For Whom the Gods Lament
by humanequinn
Summary: Clare unknowingly bumps into a chance encounter with Teresa on foreign lands, who she thought was dead. Vaguely follows the real story line;there will be intimacy among female characters later on & violence.ClarexTeresa MiriaxGalatea &more future pairings
1. Epilogue: Star Crossed

Disclaimer: I certainly do NOT own Claymore, that which includes the characters and the story line. I DO own the set of original characters portrayed on later chapters and plot I schemed up with for this fanfiction but everything else aside is respectively owned by Norihigo Yagi.

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><p><strong>For Whom the Gods Lament<strong>

**Epilogue: Star crossed**

A pair of firm arms wrapped themselves around a delicately exposed neck. "Listen, child." The owner of the binding appendages talked softly with the intentions of speaking only to her companion. "What is it, Teresa?" A girl around her budding teens brushed the long, chestnut colored hair away from her neck, giving way as the older woman protectively embraced her from behind. The two sat alongside a humble fire after a day of tediousness. The charcoals gently crackled and a lake reflecting the crescent moon near them quietly existed. "I can never give you a normal life, but I will preserve it with all of who I am as long as breath is in my lungs." The child, gradually comprehending the impact of the woman's words, wept like she usually did and the older woman simply hushed her while wearing the faintest of smiles.

"God damn it, Clare!" An elongated arm coiled tightly around her sinking body causing her to regain consciousness. Bubbles escaped her mouth violently as she rose to the surface. Helen, rough as always, delivered a good amount of slaps across Clare's face until the drowned subhuman regained enough strength to defend herself. Miria quickly intervened, and her words were more than sufficient.

"Enough, Helen. Let's keep on swimming. A week spent on the ocean is tiring enough as it is and wasting energy so carelessly is a foolish move." Clare uttered "Thank you" to a baffled Helen.

"Deneve, can't you talk some sense to our dear leader here that I was merely saving Clare's life?" Deneve coldly ignored her talkative comrade, providing zero eye contact as the power team of five paddled against wave after wave that crashed into them. Helen snarled. "Whatever. I just wanna eat something already."

Miria glanced to her left side, where Galatea resides. "How far off are the nearest youki you can detect?"

Paddling gracefully, the long haired woman flicked her eyelids once, releasing a miniscule amount of her power. "I sense a large group of humans south from here. If I can estimate, we're roughly twenty-five kilometers away from the continent of Vidal. We can make it to the nearest city of Sh'iadonlem in a couple of hours but for now we must keep going without rest. It'll be over soon enough." Galatea, with no effort on her part is a living radar for youki wavelengths. Allowing her powerful youki to trap similar or weaker ones onto hers, auras inferior or superior alike are flies to a spider's lair.

Deneve, for the first time on that day, opened her mouth. "This escapade better help in your investigations, Miria, or should I say, our investigations now. It seems there are more risks than benefits into this," Miria was about to interject, only to be interrupted. "But you are our leader, who has clearly proven her merit. I trust this will not be in vain."

Clare pierced through the rough waters, leaving everyone behind her. "On to Sh'iadonlem then."

Everyone roared in optimism except for a calculating Galatea, who was already considering the possibilities of unknown dangers ahead.


	2. Scene 1: Strangers in a Strange Place 1

**Scene 1: Strangers in a Strange Place Part 1**

The cosmopolitan city of Sh'iadonlem thrived with businesses, civilians and soldiers of various races. Humans range from cream to onyx colored skins, painting the urban place a multiracial color. Cobblestones covered the roads, while turbans and veils covered heads. Cattle and other farm animals were moved to the outskirts while a variety of shops dominated the market area. Smiths pounded anvils heavily, and penniless bards performed shows wherever they see fit.

"What just happened there? It's not like we can easily drown, you know." Helen half heartedly attempted to pry while gulping down tavern wine. A spacious bar made out of stone, much like the rest of the city, was occupied with burly men, women-warriors, and ordinary citizens escaping societal problems and celebrating their days off from work. The team of five long relinquished their Claymore attire and replaced them with more flexible leather gauntlets, sleeveless torsos, skin tight leggings strapped onto leather shorts and durable leather studded boots. Their needs for cloaks were unnecessary since the warmth of the south doesn't permit them to.

"There's no point hiding it. Any other response would sound like a flat out lie." Clare, a woman of her late teens in the eyes of the ignorant, quietly sipped wine from her mug. Her hair touched her shoulders and her bangs grew slightly longer, abandoning their choppy trademark look. Time stretched on forward and so did her locks, but it didn't matter to her. She chopped it off once and she can do it again. Her silver eyes glinted with assertion yet it was balanced with humility. "I got distracted by a memory. A memory of Teresa."

Galatea, Miria and Deneva caught the aforementioned name. Helen smiled brazenly in curiosity while chewing on an apple. "So it is true, you are Teresa's successor. The former number 1…"

The other three women listened nonchalantly with mugs on their hands, giving no interruptions as Clare talked.

"Yes, I was made using her flesh and blood. Since you all are my trusted comrades, I can confirm that it is true. She took me under her wing when I was human, right before she was murdered in front of me. After that, I never looked back when I abandoned my humanity. And here I am."

"Yes, and here we all are. Teresa was indeed a remarkable warrior and you are a reminder of her, Clare. Don't forget that." Miria, who sat alongside Deneve, gulped down a large quantity of alcohol in a ladylike manner. "As you all know, my investigation of the organization led us to this continent. It's not a surprise that humans here think of us as ordinary citizens, since our homeland is shut off from the rest of the world. It's also to our advantage that they embrace people from foreign lands, so they don't think of our hair and eyes as odd, to an extent. And since every one of you lot are wondering, yoma does not exist here and so neither do we." Deneve spat a wise remark towards Helen who was letting herself get intoxicated.

Miria raised her voice for every woman to hear. "Listen up, team. I have information from legitimate sources that the organization's headquarters used to be located in the desert of Rozarsh, which is hours away from here. Galatea, if you can explain the rest."

Clare, Helen and Deneve listened intently. They may be closer to the truth or farther down the labyrinth of deceptions. It didn't matter, for their trust is with Miria. The bond of the four, excluding Galatea, was at its strongest. Ever since their first encounter in the hunting party on the Paburo Mountains, the four vowed to survive by the cross of their swords. And that's simply what they did.

Galatia nodded with a small smile plastered on her face. The lithe woman proudly stands six feet tall, which still fascinates Miria. Her blonde hair reaches down to her thighs, yet they aren't a burden to her agility. "My, this wine certainly is delicious. As for the desert, it's in the central part of this country of Gamesh. It's around 140 kilometers from here, so we start heading over tomorrow. Until then, the night is ours and we can do as we please. Keep in mind that although there are no Silvers or Yoma, that doesn't necessarily mean danger isn't afoot."

Deneve was content. A week of travelling without rest and food certainly wore the warriors out, and with time for herself, she finally took notice that her short, silver hair grew a few inches longer, giving her a rough, spiky look. Helen, on the other hand, preferred her original hairdo and kept it that way. Clare stood up and made her way towards the door.

"I'm done drinking. I'm taking my rest at the inn. I'll see you all there later."

The leaves blew softly and darkness was illuminated by the moon who governed the night. The outskirts of Sh'iadonlem seldom had people at night unless they were looking for trouble.

Clare felt a pang of unsuppressed youki behind her. "Deneve! What's this about?" Clare stepped back swiftly and drew her broadsword against her companion's.

Deneve took a power stance. Her claymore was clasped with both hands. "I can clearly sense that your mind isn't at ease and I can assume it's because of Teresa. As your friend, I plan to help you get back to your senses before it's too late."

Clare leapt in the air as soon as her opponent, who sneaked in front of her, attempted to slash her. Readying a second attack, Deneve struck upward only to be counter attacked by Clare's sword piercing downward. No more words were shared; the only communication between the two was the clashes of their broadswords. In the eyes of a human, the skirmish is nothing more than clangs of metal, sparks, after images and wind from the sword strokes.

"You've progressed, Deneve. Though you're a defense type, your offensive skills are notable. You're almost as fast as me."

"I can say the same to you, friend. No matter how much I cut you, it seems you're recovering well. Your regenerative skills improved fifty percent from eight years ago when we first met, which is remarkable since it's not in your offensive nature."

Clare cracked a hint of a smile. "Thank you, Deneve." Sparks from the clashes intensified and the two separated from the sheer greatness. "A good spar is always refreshing. I felt too stiff from the swim."

Both warriors huffed while sheathing their swords. Deneve patted the dust off her shoulders. "Let's get some rest for tomorrow will be drearier than today."

The longer haired warrior wiped the blood off her cheek. "Agreed." Clare walked alongside her fellow warrior, casting aside her thoughts about the past and the legendary woman who can never belong to the future.

A tall figure two hundred kilometers away watched the two keenly with silver eyes gleaming in the dark. A scowl addressed his face and a cloak covered his frame. Millions of grains of sand whorled around him in a heavy storm, and the temperatures shifted from low to high. The night winds howled unforgivably towards any adventurer that dared to cross the landscape. "This is quite something, isn't it?"

A second figure, slightly shorter than the former, emerged from the grainy dunes.

"How appalling. So it seems we have been found, Dgiarze. I'm not going to lie. I am at a loss of words."

The taller man named Dgiarze spoke with much anger coating his words. "The moment has arrived where we fight to survive. We knew this time will come."

A momentary silence lapsed.

"But they're females! Just what the hell is the meaning of this?"

The other man didn't reply. He led his companion instead to disappear alongside him within the trepidations of the sandstorm.

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><p>The inn rooms were standard. Beds, chairs, restrooms and the usual objects inhabited the rooms.<p>

"Do you know why sexual intercourse is forbidden for the likes of us?"

Galatea was taken aback for a second, only to recover with a cool smile. The two she-warriors shared a room together since Helen and Deneve still possess a slight discomfort towards the former number three. Miria, as the five's leader, knows better than to cause any provocations amongst themselves.

"There's certainly no doubt why we've chosen you to lead us, although if in older times it would be me whose words you all follow. Such a knowledgeable woman you are. Why, Miria, is sex forbidden?"

Miria was too proud of her locks to cut it off, yet she thought of it as a burden in battle. Her simple solution was to put her long, spiky hair in a pony tail. For some reason, it's given her a more feminine look in the god eyes of Galatea. Or could it be a more youthful look? The taller woman couldn't decide.

The two were in a sitting position with the walls against their backs in the opposite corners of the room. Old habits such as these were more comfortable than the softest beds.

"As you already know, before awakened beings become so, they have to experience a sexual climax first. And since most of the women the organization had chosen were children at first, they grew up only knowing the battlefield. Bloodshed, yoma and distancing themselves emotionally to protect themselves were the only ways of living to them."

Galatia was intrigued.

"Go on, girl. Get to the point."

Miria stood, and she stared at the silver moon peeking from the window.

"These women obviously have no experience with sex. They're all virgins. In a way, awakening to us is like intercourse for the first time, meaning most will submit to the newfound pleasure that they have never in their lives felt before. That's one of the reasons why awakening to us is so hard to resist. Our lives as soldiers are full of dread, and awakening is the only pleasure an unfortunate one can feel."

Galatia stared at the shorter woman.

"So what you're trying to say is there are bigger chances of resisting awakening if the likes of us are deflowered?"

"Yes, that's true. The organization forbade us to copulate amongst our kind for the sheer purpose of awakening quicker. Another scheme to cripple us."

"And how do you know this, have you fornicated with one of us before?"

Miria looked down at Galatea sharply. Her commands were firm and clear.

"I'm commanding you, God eye, to prove my point."


	3. Scene 1: Strangers in a Strange Place 2

**Strangers in a Strange Place Part 2**

"Water!"

Clear droplets of crystal liquid splashed about the two as the sun's rays penetrated the lake. The birds chirped with much vigor and animals ran about playing their roles as predator and prey. Nature was thriving and the two were as wild as the forest they wandered.

"Come now, there's plenty for the both of us. Take your time and don't use up your energy running amuck. Wash off the blood from the group of yoma I slaughtered and rehydrate yourself. I swear their putrid stench gets worse and worse."

The amazonian woman emerged from the translucent pool of waters, causing ripple after ripple to enlarge in a hypnotic dance of circles. Teresa, undressed from her rigid soldier attire, stood naked on the shallows of the lake. The single ranked superhuman not only lacked clothes but also the shame of being physically exposed. Clare, an adolescent girl who barely comprehended the beauties and passions of the flesh, paid no mind to her woman companion's supple yet voluptuous physique that stood confidently across her.

"After you're done drinking up, come, girl."

The woman spoke to the girl gently. The warm rays of the sun accentuated Teresa's creamy skin, causing any mortal to easily mistake her a demigoddess. Her wavy blonde locks stuck to her skin with the help of water and droplets clung to her every skin.

Clare playfully swam towards Teresa, wondering what her protector would do now. Clare, who only lived fourteen years of her human life, met at least a minimum of six hundred people. Out of the approximated six hundred, Teresa was the most interesting and truthful, and a few months of walking the earth together was more than enough for Teresa's personality to appeal to the younger girl.

"Can't you clean up right? I can't stop smelling their blood off of you. It's unforgivable to have something so rotten on something so pure."

Clare was suddenly pulled into Teresa's grip, and the girl giggled in delight as Teresa scrubbed her clean of the odors of death.

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><p>The yellow orb of flames glared down on the sea of sands called Gamesh. The landscape stretched onto the horizon where the cloudless skies met the lifeless grounds. Winds were scarce at daytime, and heat sizzled to formidable degrees passing one hundred ten. Life seldom flourished but when creatures do manage to live in the sandy ecosystem, vermin such as vultures patiently waited for their dying days. The lands were covered with white dunes of every size, and traveling through is close to impossible. Dusk in Gamesh was painful, but its dawn was inconceivably agonizing.<p>

"Damn, I'm actually missing the ocean. I just took a shower before we left and my hair's sticky again." Helen, a could-have-been woman in her early twenties, twirled her faint blonde hair in an irritated manner as she dashed across the desert wastelands. The sun was relentless towards the five who all sported newly acquired cloaks for protection against the melting heat of day and the freezing cold of night. Helen, the opinionated warrior she was, acknowledged that she had the choice of accepting she was a monster. She also knew she had the option of believing she was human. Her vibrancy, optimism and cravings for the simpler pleasures in life gave her comrades hope in believing they're humans just like her.

Clare, who sprinted alongside Miria, sensed the other woman's youki to have changed colors. The former number forty seven was known better than to be underestimated in the fields of combat, intelligence and perception. Miria, much like the rest of the team, experienced firsthand what Clare was capable of, after years of knowing her. "Miria, I can't help but notice you're emitting a red colored aura. It means you're passionate at the moment, but be it rage or lust? I can't pinpoint something so specific and I don't mean to pry. It's just rare for the likes of you to be the farthest of calm."

Miria suppressed her youki which she'd forgotten to control for a second. "You're as perceptive as ever." The team leader showed no emotion except for the determination to find the headquarters they've been seeking for weeks. "Pay no heed to it; I'm just excited to-"

A gigantic tip of tail floated in the air for seconds, showering the cloaked five with gallons of blood. Clare and Galatea leapt up to greet the massive piece of meat only to slice it more into ant like pieces. The two then landed in front of the rest while whipping their broadswords to rid of the blood that clung.

Galatea furrowed a brow. "I didn't expect them to attack so prematurely. I figured they would come out of hiding in a few more hours."

Helen spat at her comrade. "You knew of this! Why would you keep it secret, are you trying to get us killed?"

Clare held back her short tempered friend while scouting the desert area. "Calm, Helen. I figured Galatea didn't want to provoke them until we're far from civilization. I also sensed them coming, but I didn't know they were so near. Galatea simply lured the forces far enough for ordinary citizens to be spared from bloodshed."

"I'd watch my tongue if I were you." Galatea regretted nothing of her actions. "If I spoke a word about it any sooner, they would've stricken while we were still in Sh'iadonlem."

Each of the fighters rightfully took their warrior stances. With keen eyes, they were ready for more blood to be spilt. The grounds shook mightily, and the five scattered about, gripping their sword handles as firmly as they could.

An enormous scaled being emerged from the sands, causing millions of grains to cascade down its mighty head and exposed spines. The sands fell like a waterfall and the creature, a hybrid of a dragon and a snake, roared in pain. Transparent scales covered the creature and its sleek skin glistened a black hue. Its tail, thicker than the biggest trees, bled profusely.

"You blasphemous lot!"

"So you can talk." Miria pointed her sword at the snake-dragon's skull. "I know you're not an awakened being and you're not a yoma either, so what are you? Speak!"

"We're never going back to the organization!" The being spat a line of fire towards Miria, only to be dodged. "You're all worse than the devils from hell!"

Clare, with the rest of her group, took a moment to absorb the creature's words. Their sands of time quickly ran out when the reptilian pinned Deneve down with one of its maul. Its speed matched theirs, and they were too late to save Deneve the sensation of fire melting one's face. Deneve cried out in pain and her throat uttered a guttural wail. The feeling of flesh melting from one's facial bones was excruciating, but it wasn't enough to annihilate the master healer. Parts of her jawbone were crudely exposed, and her comrades had about enough of her torture.

Helen, with Galatea, ripped the snake-dragon's caging appendage from its body with their swords while Clare aimed for the beast's head. Miria swiftly carried her wounded friend onto a safer spot while commanding Deneve to heal her wounds. Helen was the closest to Deneve, but Miria considered herself a rival confidant. She clenched her jaw and her eyes flickered golden in anger. "Just stay put and recover. When you're done, stand by and keep an eye on us and heal whoever is wounded. I trust your skills as the curer to save any one of us who's in dire need." Miria, who excelled at systematic combat, knew the strengths and weaknesses of her team. She trusted Deneve would revive in a matter of minutes, and she trusted that Clare would behead the monster with no mercy. Even if there was a possibility of Clare failing, Galatea would kill it in an instant and Helen would drill it to bits.

Hot blood gushed onto Clare's entire face as she slit the creature's jugular open. The massive dragon-serpent squirted like a fountain and its colossal form crashed onto the sands. Clare landed on her feet, showing no mind of the crimson that painted her.

The creature sank in the depths of the sands, as if the desert swallowed what was left of it whole.

Galatea was almost fooled. The youki she picked up before didn't belong to their fallen foe. It was as if the new youki she's sensing are strings that controlled the beast like a marionette, a massive marionette. She could have easily sensed the hidden puppeteer's youki, but another force purposely caused interference in her radar. The other aura, as Galatea predicted, was most likely of similar strength to hers since it was powerful enough to hinder her detecting wavelengths. She only counted two sources of power, and they were closing in.

"Everybody, keep your guards up! That was just an illusion! The real enemies are nearby!" Galatea was ready to manipulate any youki she saw fit, and the women behind her readied their weapons. Deneve was almost finished regenerating and she finally felt sensation on her face again. Her muscle and skin cells weren't a challenge to reconnect. It was her veins, arteries and nervous system that she focused more on. Blood quickly rushed to her head, and her brain regenerated enough grey matter for it to command her body movement at will.

A pair of hands clapped loudly and Clare glared at the two men who emerged from the sands.

The taller man removed his cloak, revealing whitish locks that competed with Galatea's. His bangs were slicked backwards and his thick brows were slanted. Silver eyes pierced through Clare's, and a grin greeted her frown. He was of a muscular build, and he, as well as his companion, was dressed in a worn out military attire the women couldn't put their fingers on. The shorter man beside him was of a darker pigment and their skins contrasted each other. The two sported protective iron plates, and sword handles stuck out from their broad backs.

The taller one talked, and his voice was deep and understood. "It's impressive that you all managed to find out El'liem's illusion. Then again, I didn't expect any less from Organization lapdogs."

A small snake near the group of fighters writhed in pain. Blood leaked from where its tail and head should have been. The piece of meat finally ceased its twitching and eventually bled to death. Clare saw enough and averted her eyes from the pathetic sight. "I see. So you made this animal suffer just for the means of testing our abilities. Am I close to the truth?"

El'liem glared at Clare. Unlike his more collected companion, El'liem's difficulty in suppressing emotions made his facial expressions easily readable. His mane that danced with the desert winds was silver and spiky, minus the two long braids he possessed near his pierced ears.

"Wretch, you should already know the abilities of the brothers in arms you all plan to execute."

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><p>The moon shone mysteriously the night before their travels to the despicable desert of Gamesh. Sh'iadonlem was asleep, and the gentle winds whispered lullabies to resting bodies. Clare, Helen and Deneve bid their goodnights and slept the night away after a weary week of traveling. They were going to cross the harsh landscape tomorrow, and they needed as much rest as possible.<p>

Galatea was silent at first. Single combat, battle strategies, tracking opponents and quick-witted remarks were her forte. The situation she was currently in, however, was not. It wasn't that she preferred the male specie, it was that fighting was the only field she knew, that they knew, and the field of lovemaking was completely an obscurity. Miria was waiting for a response, and Galatea hated making anybody wait in her expense.

The towering woman stood after thinking it through. "If it'll help me delay my awakening, so be it. We all have to do our parts to survive, and I'm making sure I safeguard myself, to the best of my abilities."

Miria understood. Her ponytail was released by her nimble fingers, and the woman-warrior undressed herself before Galatea's godly eyes. Her shirt was the next to be stripped, followed by her heavy boots. She took her time taking off her right sock, then the left. With her feet exposed, Miria then tended to her tight leggings by removing their straps near her creamy thighs. She wasn't in haste to peel off the second skin that wrapped around her legs, and the wait to witness Miria's legs was excruciating for her beholder. Their kind was known to have the ability to deform their bodies at will in order to repel humans with intentions of defiling their most private flesh, but Miria showed her truest form, and her body left no room for the imagination.

The window was behind her naked self, and the moon that peeked through the opening illuminated Miria's fair skin a bluish hint. Her breasts were ample, and her pink nipples were pointed. The bare woman's mane spilled down to her delicate neck, and wild strands of blonde stuck to her slightly opened lips. Her legs were long and slender, and her stomach was tight and flat. Miria's collar and hip bones were slightly emphasized, and she had meat in all the right places.

For the first time in her existence, Galatea stuttered.

Miria was timid at first, but seeing how the confident Galatea crumbled down to her goddess like body, she did what she does best, and she took lead.

"Come, Galatea, and enter me."

"Wouldn't it be unfortunate if I tore you apart?" Galatea licked the blood off her fingers in a painfully slow movement. Her eyes looked predatory, and she was quickly succumbing into the heat of Miria's loins. "Oh, too late. So you are a virgin. You had me fooled into believing you were actually experienced in the pleasures of the body." Miria was her prey, and for the first time in Galatea's life, her heart pounded awfully fast. Blood was rushing to her veins, and all because of the heavenly sight of her superior, whose naked skin was against hers. Galatea would have been in her middle twenties if she was human, yet the opportunity for sexual pleasure was stripped away along with her humanity. Her womanhood never had the chance to be explored, and in her days serving the Organization, she remained pure.

The shorter woman covered her eyes tightly with both palms, and her mouth was agape. Miria's breath was shallow, and it danced to the rhythm of Galatea's fingers that penetrated her. The bed, which was next to them, was carelessly ignored and the floor was the better candidate to sin on.


	4. Scene 1: Strangers in a Strange Place 3

**Scene 1: Strangers in a Strange Place Part 3**

Clare, much like every woman behind her, wore a face of surprise, confusion and awe.

The two groups stood tall against one another on the vast battlefield, each glaring down their opponents for means of intimidation. None backed down from the staring contest, as their prides as warriors did not permit them to. Deneve, Helen, Miria and Galatea were waiting and a cue for assault was the only thing holding them back from connecting their weapons to their enemies. Clare regained her composure and swung her weapon once to purge the layered blood. She then sheathed her blade, much to her comrades' additional surprise, and stepped on forward. She had a grasp on El'liem's cause, or at least she believed she did.

"Both of you think we're here to behead you, but we aren't. My team and I are Silver vagabonds looking for the Organization's headquarters here in Rozarsh, and it seems you two have an idea to where it's at, since you appear to despise them as much as we do. It's also astounding to have a conversation with our male counterparts. I thought this day would never come seeing as your kind should have been extinct long ago."

The rest of the female Silvers stood quietly, and each were analyzing different outcomes and possibilities from their unexpected discovery. The thought of meeting male versions of themselves was farfetched, but they've seen too many impossible things happen to disregard the predicament they were currently in.

The pale-skinned man stepped forward to meet Clare, and his sword was untouched. His smile bared his teeth out, and it was followed by a childish laugh. "Silvers? Is that the new term they have for our kind now?"

Helen arched her right brow in annoyance of having the burden to educate him, and unapologetically so. Never had she loosened her grip on her broadsword and if in different times, her palm on her face would have sufficed as an irritated reaction. "Look, guy. The term 'Claymore' is what humans call us." Helen sassily emphasized on pronouncing 'humans'. "My generation, meaning my sisters-in-arms here and I, prefer to be called 'Silvers' rather than the broad swords we all bear, or the derogatory slang 'Silver-eyed witches'. It's an identity we all came up with, and we're going to make sure we change the humans' vocabulary about us."

Miria wanted an explanation, and she wanted it soon.

"Speak your name, man. What are male Silvers, who are supposed to be wiped out or have turned into awakened beings, doing in the deserts of Rozarsh? We have no initial intentions of falling into battle with the likes of you, but if you provoke us, we will not hesitate."

The former-soldier's smile widened, much like a child's would when a new playmate is introduced. "Dgiarze is my name. El'liem and I are the abandoned ones, and the last survivors of the Silver male clan." Dgiarze carried on and bowed like a gentleman, which contradicted his rugged warrior attire.

Her team depended on her as much as she depended on them, and Miria couldn't take any chances on being deceived. Her eyes didn't stray on Dgiarze as she commanded. "Galatea, if you could kindly lend us your powers to see if this man is telling the truth."

Galatea quickly glanced at her superior, whose back was facing her. "Understood." She then proceeded to start her dissection on her target's youki wavelengths using her youki perception. Her concentration was narrowed in on him, and her vision darkened to black except for his illuminated image.

Dgiarze was mildly amused, but the women's scrutinizing eyes on him were a tad unnerving. Miria talked with a low voice. "I am going to ask you a series of questions now. If you lie, Galatea will detect a disturbance in your youki flow, and it will result in a battle amongst us. If you tell the truth which is highly recommended, your aura will flow smoothly, and a good ending may come out of this."

Dgiarze's grin came to an end. "And how do we know you aren't fooling us yourselves? Tactics to gain one's trust then betraying him in the end aren't uncommon for the likes of us."

Clare dropped her claymore in front of Dgiarze. "You better comply with what Miria says, because here is a compromise. We clearly outnumber you two to five and if our objective was to exterminate you both for desertion from the Organization, we could've easily done that the moment you two appeared before us. Now play by our rules, or your kind will truly be erased. The female breed are the newer generation and trust me, we are much more efficient and powerful than you." The short haired warrior took pity on the aftermaths of her fallen male comrades' wars, but she, as well as the rest of her group, wasn't planning on yielding to any forces that came across them. They've gone too far and have seen too many comrades perish to let any blockades oppose their gritty determination.

Dgiarze fell silent and took a brief moment to reconsider El'liem's and his safety. A minute passed before he slowly spread his arms out and grabbed his sword handle. "I'm a smart man, and I can see your point. You all have more than enough reason to slay us, seeing as how we burned one of you alive." His claymore, which was bigger in width and height than the modern generation's, plopped heavily on the sands. His blade stretched longer than Galatea, reaching a length of seven feet. "Go on. I'll answer your questions." El'liem, who was quiet the whole time, knew better than to doubt his partner's decisions. He remained silenced as his companion of many years willingly confessed.

Miria kicked both Clare and Dgiarze's weapons, chucking their blades up in the air for none to possess. Her interrogation then begun the second the points on the descending swords stabbed the land.

"What are your intentions by ambushing us?"

"We merely presumed you and your squad worked under the Organization. Silvers, as you call us, do not exist here. The detection of such powerful youki in large quantities was quite alarming, and El'liem and I believed they finally found us. It's quite logical, since the Organization usually sends out their pawns to kill off those who betray them."

"Galatea?"

"He's telling the truth."

"What are you two doing here in Rozarsh?"

"We're here because this is our home now. When male Silvers died in war or have awakened, the Organization then thought it would be a waste of financial expenses to support and make more of us, so they simply slaughtered what was left of our kind, or at least they thought they did. Operation male Silver was a failure, and we've hidden here ever since a decade ago."

"Galatea?"

"It's the truth."

"It appears you're very cooperative." The long haired woman's eyes radiated a steely gaze. "Very well then. Do you or your partner know of the Organization's headquarters that reside here, since you've obviously taken a liking for this place?"

Clare, Helen and Deneve made no sudden movements.

Dgiarze patted his hands together to remove the desert dirt. A defeated grunt escaped his throat, and he turned his head on El'liem. "Sorry, old chap. I guess we're gonna have to run errands for these lovely ladies today." The fair skinned man then faced Miria. A fresh smile reinvented itself on his handsome face. "We can lead you to their headquarters first thing tomorrow. After taking my time examining your youki and its interactions with the past, I can now be sure your intentions are good."

Miria glanced at Galatea for confirmation. "He's clear. I suggest we accept their aid since they're on our side against the Organization."

* * *

><p>The band of Silvers stood camp behind a giant boulder that shielded them against the furious night winds of Rozarsh. A fire was futile against the heavy climates, and their cloaks were the only factor protecting them against mother nature's fury. The moon, who accompanied the five warriors every night, slumbered under a dark blanket of clouds. Deneve and Helen sat on opposite sides of their leader, while Clare and Galatea rested across them with their backs against the giant desert rock. El'liem and Dgiarze settled between their foreign followers while leaning on their supersized broadswords.<p>

Dgiarze's voice was calming. "Miria, was it? You really shouldn't expose your aura too carelessly. I could have easily used my youki to unlock your chambers of memories embedded in the recesses of your mind. Lucky for you I only delved into events prior to a week ago and I must say, it's interesting to find out that there are actually solutions into resisting awakening, though some are quite… Unorthodox."

Galatea sat quietly with her arms and legs crossed under her black cloak. Her eyes accidentally met Miria's for a split second before shutting them in an attempt to sleep. She didn't get enough rest the night before, nor the days previous to that, and she won't allow her lack of sleep be the cause of bags under her eyes.

Miria, much like the rest, was impressed. She also wanted a different course of topic. "So you have the ability to see what others have seen and experienced through their memories. I bet you were an asset to the Organization back then in the fields of interrogation and finding out the enemy's weaknesses. What was your rank in your fighting days?"

El'liem's cloak covered his frame, and his demeanor was more tolerable than hours before. "The reason we yielded in battle was because Dgiarze saw through that you all spoke the truth. Otherwise, we could've taken you all on. Dgiarze was formerly number two, causing me to downgrade to number three. The only warrior ever to top us in combat was Isley the Calm, who was ranked number one at the time. We never really knew what became of him after our genocide, but his strength was legendary. He was a friend, as well as numbers four, Rigaldo and five, Dauf. Perhaps you've encountered them in your travels as well?"

The women grew silent and Helen quickly intervened. It wasn't in her nature to lie, but she felt the need to spare her new comrades the despair of knowing the truth. Her tone was arrogant, which added more credibility to her story. "Damn, I can't recall such odd names. We've simply fought too many foes to memorize every name thrown at us."

"I see." El'liem didn't buy her story, and neither did Dgiarze. El'liem bowed his hooded head down and rested his eyes. His voice was somber. "You should all catch some sleep. We move early in the morning where it's not yet too hot."

Clare sputtered an involuntary gasp, waking herself up. Her companions were fast asleep and it was still hours away until the sun would surface out of the horizon. It was her third time thinking about Teresa, and it was starting to scare her. She wiped the cold sweat above her brows, and tried to situate herself a different sleeping position. The first two visions were harmless flashbacks of her human days with her rescuer. It was her third that was of a fantasy and an impure one that went against all of Clare's views of her once protector:

_She laid her bare back on the sandy shores of the sea. The moon's full reflection emanated through the surface of the waters, and the waves gently rose and fell like velvet curtains that caught the winds. Clare wasn't a child anymore, and she was willing to prove it to Teresa. _

_Teresa, who was laying next to a mature bodied Clare, smiled in wonder as her companion grabbed her right hand."Hm? What's this about, girl?"_

_Clare looked straight into Teresa's eyes, and her want dripped more every second their silver eyes connected. The naked girl was bashful, but nothing stopped her from placing Teresa's hand on her well developed breast. Teresa examined Clare's face with a look of lust slowly emerging in her face. Her wavy locks cascaded down Clare's body as she slowly placed her well figured body atop the shorter woman's naked form. Teresa kissed Clare's delicately exposed neck all the while intertwining their slender fingers together, and the shorter woman accidentally gasped a sultry moan as Teresa slowly licked from the base of her neck to her earlobe with an agile tongue. Teresa then advanced on concentrating on Clare's round breasts, kissing each tender nipple before melting them under her tongue's swirling touch. _

Clare's breath was rapid as she was trying to make sense of her dream. She then placed her hand on her forehead with lingering distraught. Salty water trickled down from her eyes, and she bit her lip until it bled as punishment for violating the dignified image of Teresa. Clare wept herself to sleep; the fact that the person she missed the most would only visit her in the realms of her mind was beyond heartbreaking, but it was cruel for herself to act an intimate play that starred a character she could never truly feel.

* * *

><p>"Wake up." Deneve's silhouette covered the sun while sheathing her claymore. She looked down at Clare, who was barely fluttering her eyes open. "El'liem said the headquarters are only a few kilometers from here. I'm hoping we succeed in finding a lead to their new whereabouts."<p>

Clare rose from her sleeping arrangement. It was time to take action, and every warrior's sentimental thoughts were casted aside. All that mattered was getting to their destination in expectations of retrieving information to topple the Organization. "There's only one way of finding out."

The group of seven sped through the desert, racing against the sun that could rise any minute.

An hour of sprinting passed, and El'liem finally stopped his track. "We're here." A cellar door, hidden by broken down pillars, was kicked down for the fighters to enter. The structure was cleverly hidden underground, and the desert surface blended in with the rest of the scenery. The group entered the worn out door, and delved deeper onto a flight of stairs going down. A lobby, untouched for years, met the stairs, and lights flickered on and off, producing an electrical buzzing sound. It was a laboratory like environment, with broken preservative tubes scattered on the sides. Water dripped from the giant glass containers while wires of different sizes and colors intertwined themselves around the odd machineries. The place was full of contraptions beyond what the soldiers have ever encountered, and the matter just brought more suspicion towards their former employers. Everybody gawked around the spacious room, unsure on what to make of the contraptions they have witnessed.

El'liem's head rolled down the floor, and everyone paused to comprehend what just happened.

Dgiarze roared as tears streamed down his face. "Everybody, scatter!"

A naked body slithered from one of the tubes. Shards of glass shattered as they dropped on the floor, and preservative liquids spilled as the giant tube broke, releasing the form to crawl towards the wet floor. Her eyes finally opened, and her voice shuddered as she spoke.

"You." The rhythm of her speech pattern was irregular, as if the language she was speaking was new to her tongue.

"You. Betrayers. Will. Not get Teresa."

Clare's eyes widened in disbelief, and the grip on her sword handle momentarily weakened.


	5. Extra Scene: 365 Days

Galatea emitted a condescending tone on her deep yet womanly voice. "And what makes you think I want to join your cause? And to be fighting under your commands, have you forgotten I am more powerful than you, number six?"

Miria stood before her with her eyes closed. High ranked soldiers were disgustingly conceited, and Galatea wasn't an exception in her eyes. "You speak so arrogantly, Galatea. Perhaps that's why the Organization decided your termination. They're probably sending more dogs to sniff you out as we speak."

The holy city of Rabona was alive, and the chapel positioned in the middle of the capital was occupied with unfortunate orphans running about. Miria, who temporarily parted with Clare, Deneve, and Helen, had the most luck of bumping into a castaway soldier within the heavily populated city. A little boy muttered a 'Sorry' as he accidentally ran into her. Like a normal child, he played on wearing his bruises and scrapes thinking every stranger he encountered was as forgiving as her. The spiky haired woman leaned on the chapel's walls, wearing civilian clothes. Her aura was suppressed, and her eyes were dark brown.

Galatea tended to a bawling little girl's scrape. The child was hysterical, but the woman managed to hush her with ease. "You have no business with me here. The Organization pursuing me doesn't concern you."

Miria frowned in bewilderment. "What exactly are you doing playing house with children? I wouldn't have expected it to be in taste with the likes of you."

The taller woman finally opened her eyes, only to reveal that cataracts clouded her irises, giving them a smoky silver tint. Her pupils vanished beneath her blindness, yet her feminine beauty remained undamaged by her visual handicap. Miria arched her brows in shock. 'Who was cruel enough to leave a warrior without sight?' was the phantom's dwelling thoughts.

"I sense what you're thinking. And if you must know, I did it to myself. Yesterday, as a matter of fact."

**Extra Scene: 365 Days**

* * *

><p><strong>Day 1<strong>

_What is she doing here of all places? She can't still be working under that wretched company in an attempt to gain my trust then slay me after. I saw with my own eyes the deaths of her comrades by the hands of awakened beings in that god forsaken ice wasteland. It was all a ploy by the Organization, yet she stands there before me, acting like she's got it all figured out. I attempted to ignore her presence and continued on. I kissed the child's raw knee, secretly emitting undetectable youki to heal her insignificant wound. The fussy girl revived easy enough, and hollered at her playmates for more rough housing to ensue. Children are creatures I have no knowledge of, so I react in a way a kindly nun would. I smiled with warmth as she bid her goodbye, and she thanked me in an overtly excited babble her mouth could muster. _

_I was about to stand, but a pair of hands invaded my privacy in the gentlest of ways. I couldn't rouse any suspicion amongst the townspeople, so I decided not to rip the flesh off her shameless body. Instead, I grabbed Miria's skinny wrists into a tight grip as her palms covered my blindness. I gritted my teeth in aggravation. How dare she have the audacity to touch me on my face, of all places? None had the bravery to disrespect me in such proportions, not even the higher ups in the Organization. _

_I commanded her to stop what she was doing with all the calm I could gather, but to no avail. Beams of light slowly entered my restored pupils, and I saw rays of sun saturated brightly on her white skin, hurting my fresh eyes for a second. Miria stood tall against my sitted form, and her hair grew longer from the last time I've encountered her in Pieta a few months ago. I could have drank up the way the giant ball of light had given her an angelic splendor, or how her pink lips looked sensual slightly parted, but I easily casted those aside. Instead, I asked her in irritation why she decided to heal the wound I inflicted upon myself._

"How can you behold the beauty of these children if you can't even see their innocent smiles_?" is what she said. She was level headed as always, but answering my question with another question? How tastelessly passé. I didn't want to deal with this intruding woman or her preaching about overthrowing our creators, so I rose and walked past her and entered my church, my solitude. She had no right acting my liberator. _

**Day 24**

_It was a nice day, and Father Vincent asked if I could tend to the church garden. I don't mind watering plants, really. I've been here for almost a month, and they seem to welcome me, to accept me. The sun was glorious and its warmth embraced me. I pierced my sight yet again; I couldn't take the chances of humans, or worse, nonhumans to find out what they're not supposed to. The consequences will be deadly for I will obliterate those who oppose me. Even Alicia and Beth are no match for me since I know their weaknesses. A soul link? Ridiculous. I could easily interfere with their connection and end their miserable existence while they're in their most vulnerable state. After seeing how inhumane those bastards could be with their experiments, I found it in myself to have the courage to leave that line of work. I would just like to be left in peace, living amongst simplicity and nothing more. _

_I heard Father Vincent conversing with another, and I hear both of them walking closer towards me. My ears twitched once the latter's voice became clear. _

"Good morning, Sister Latea." _She says. _"Father Vincent here was just telling me all the outstanding deeds you've done for the children and I think what you're doing is just amazing." _Her tone was soothing, and I sensed her words were genuine. Then again, I didn't expect her to be anything else._

_I smiled as I drizzled drops of water onto a bougainvillea patch. I then turned around where the voices originated from, and I bowed to greet the father, not so much Miria. _"Good morning, Father Vincent. Miria. What seems to be your objective in visiting this city yet again?" _I asked with disinterest dripping from my voice. _

_Father Vincent butted in. _"I was tending to a sermon, and this woman approached me afterwards. She says she's one of Clare's friends, and yours as well. I'll leave you two to catch up on old times now."

_And just like that, he left the two of us to ourselves. I placed the pail on the floor, and crossed my arms. I could've looked more intimidating but this dreaded nun outfit did not permit me to. It's times like this where I preferred my soldier armor. It provoked fear onto anyone who witnessed me. _"What do you want from me now, number six? I thought I told you I'm not taking your offer."

"You're straight to the point as always." _She answers. I'm not sure what to make of this woman. Her presence gnaws at my very soul, and I don't know if I find it pleasurable or not. She sure is persistent though, on whatever intentions she possessed. _

"I'm just here to enjoy this nice city on a nice day. My comrades and I are off visiting our hometowns before we launch into rigorous training again, and it so happens that this is my hometown."

_This abominable woman. _

_I kicked her across her stomach after she pressed her lips against mine, permitting her youki to stealthily heal my eyes yet again. Why does she keep doing this? I left myself in the dark, but when there is light, the first sight I see is her. It's beyond frustrating. _

_She looked unfazed by my attack, but understandably so since it's only meant to push her away. Her facial expression only made my scowl bigger and my brows furrowed. She wore no fear of me; no embarrassment by her recent action; no shame. I gazed at her long enough to study her, to analyze her motives, but all I saw was a gentleness that perplexed me even more. I didn't even know what to say, so I wiped her essence off my tarnished lips and grabbed her by the mane. _

"I see a gentler side in you, Galatea."_ She looked straight at me._ "The proof is in your eyes."

_My fist softened, and I slowly let go of her. It was all a blow to my ego: her lack of respect towards me, her invasion of my space, her invasion of my body, and if eyes truly are the windows of the soul, then my soul was ruthlessly violated. And she already did that twice. I felt naked before her, as if her gaze alone was enough to strip me of my pride. _

"I am going to be here for a year."_ Her hands were latched on her hips in a girlish manner. _"My companions and I decided to part ways for a while and enjoy life as ordinary citizens before we leave everything behind. This is our last chance to deal with unfinished businesses before strengthening ourselves and battling the Organization," _Her last words gave me a headache. _"so expect me to be around." _She walked off with a sway on her hips, and I looked away before I wanted to see more. _

_The image of her kissing me was engraved in my memory, and I could only imagine how blasphemous it all was in the eyes of a god._

**Day 59**

_I have come to adore these little humans. Children are quite amusing, and it's odd how they openly show affection through their words and actions. I assume I'm doing a good job being their caretaker since they give me embraces and 'I love you's'. These youngsters looked around the ages of four to nine, which saddens me more that they've lost their birth givers in such a critical age. We played about on the playgrounds behind the chapel, sang nursery rhymes and I even went as far as to organize sports for the older kids to enjoy. I heard thunders growling from the skies, and a downpour surely followed afterwards. I rallied up the tykes before they had a chance to invite a cold in their systems, but I sensed the fussy girl's aura was absent. I counted the children's miniscule auras, and I sighed in relief that I'm not missing any more. I left myself in the dark, yet again, and I searched for Father Vincent's life force within the church to make him watch after the young ones. _

_I busted out the giant front door and began my search. Human essence is a thousand times harder to detect, and it's even more challenging if they're not within my radius. The waters poured loudly and I snarled in anger as the rain meddled the chances of locating her. I gritted my teeth as I dashed the city streets. I was drenched from head to toe, and I jumped from roof to roof, trying to find a better transmission. My fears for this child grew stronger, and I searched every nook and corner of Rabona for a sliver of her soul. _

_I failed to save the child. I fell to my knees on the puddled ground and I contemplated on the possibilities of her being kidnapped. Or murdered. Or raped. Or worse, the probability of her being a youma's meal. Beads of liquid rolled down my cheeks and I can't tell if it's the weather's doing. I looked up at the gray skies. Citizens couldn't care less for an orphan's fate. I eventually stood up and returned to my church. _

"There you are. We've been waiting for your return, Sister Latea."

_That damned voice. If she wasn't in my thoughts, she was in my reality. _

"Miria, what're you-" _My question was quickly interrupted by a pair of arms around my thighs. I felt around until my hands touched a head of hair, and I picked up and hugged the child as tight as I could. _"But how? I..." _I was too busy feeling the four year old's face and head for reassurance that she was there to finish my sentence. The fussy child laughed and kissed my cheek before she went on to pinch my face all over. I almost forgot how rambunctious they could get. _

"I was walking around the market earlier when I found this child wandering about. I recognized her as one of your children so I picked her up before any wrong hands would."

_Father Vincent thanked Miria, and gently pulled the miniature human off me. _"Now child, let's go get you bathed then bedtime afterwards, okay?" _He then addressed to me. _"Sister Latea, thank you for searching for Claudine. The sisters and I patiently waited for hours, and I'm glad nothing serious happened to her."

_I stood there dripping, and yet again, Miria's very being was the first sight I saw once light penetrated my newly regenerated irises. I stared at her while I caught my breath, and she stared back with no more words exchanged between the both of us. For the third time, she pulled me away from the darkness I created within myself._

**Day 148**

"Papa!" _I still cringe at my newfound nickname. Why did I have to be the male character? They display such inferior characteristics, though I do not dislike nor fear them. Claudine rushed towards me, and jumped for me to catch. I picked her up with ease, and she was easily amused from hovering high in the air. We were face to face until I placed her back on the ground, and she ran off to go back to... Miria. Ever since that woman saved the child from the unspeakables, Miria couldn't shake her off her leg even if she tried. I smirked at the thought. I decided not to destroy my sight anymore, since she would only bring it back. Instead, I took those suppressing pills she would give me every day. Humans think it's a miracle from god that my blindness was cured, and who was I to step on their fairytale? I was used to six's presence by now, yet at the same time something about her still made me uneasy. I dared not show it._

_I walked towards them._ "Girl, why do you address me so? Speak."

_I couldn't even scare this child. Claudine jabbered on: _"You're waaay taller than mama, so that makes you a papa!" _she says, emphasizing my stature with her tiny hands. My left brow twitched for a second. The thought of Miria and I as her parents sent an odd sensation to my chest. I took a glance at the woman, who was telling a bedtime story to the children with Claudine on her lap. I sat next to the orphans, and listened as her voice took over the atmosphere. She glanced at me for a second before looking at the rest, but I never removed my sight from her, not even once. I was a tree within a forest of eyes, and I took full advantage of that. The whole night I examined her, trying to look for a flaw, trying to find ways she was just like me, but I couldn't find any. Nothing. _

**Day 238**

_I loved this child so, and I tucked her into bed along with the rest of the children. Miria loved her too, ever since their first encounter. I kissed Claudine's forehead goodnight, and I was on my way out of the door until the fussy child muttered something. I walked back towards her bed, and leaned my ear onto her. She whispered something, something that brought shivers down my spine. _

"Always protect mama." _Claudine murmured. _"Promise!"

_Her smile was infectious, and I couldn't help but reciprocate it. I nodded, telling her I promised. Silly human. I walked away, shutting off the lights while smiling at the thought of Miria in peril. _

**Day 296**

_Odd. I haven't seen that woman the whole day today. She usually pops out of nowhere to bother me. It's even odder that by instinct, I looked for her. I treaded the halls and corridors of the church, and I even went outside the gardens and the playgrounds to see if I'd catch a glimpse. She didn't work under Vincent like I did, but she visited the children daily. It was the fall season, and the trees in the garden shed beautifully. I heard the sound of crunching leaves, but I paid it no heed until it persisted. I walked over to the garden's bushes carefully and my warrior instincts automatically came through. I blacked out for a nanosecond, and that was enough time for me to rip the wretched head off the disgusting youma. I was strong enough to separate its miserable skull off its body with my bare hands, and I stared at my claws as they dripped violet blood. The monster's lifeless meat flopped to the ground, and I was more than glad to end its pathetic, lowlife existence. I finally found you, Miria. I wasn't thinking. I couldn't think. My mind was blank, and I rushed to Miria, who stood before me, and I tackled her to the ground. I was on top of her, and I covered her eyes so she wouldn't see anymore. If only I wasn't too late. I couldn't spare her the sight she just witnessed, and I stared blankly as she struggled under me, kicking and screaming, pounding her fists on the ground. I pinned her down to the best of my abilities, with my palms pressed against her eyes, and her tears mixed in with the violet that stained me. She sobbed uncontrollably, and she hammered my sides, yelling curses at my direction. She was bludgeoning me to death, and I heard my skull and ribs crack, but I kept pinning her down beneath me. I kept blinding her. I had to protect her. My Claudine told me to. _

"Let me go! Get the fuck off me! Get the FUCK off me!"_ She screamed. _"She was just a child!" _I flinched in pain as she dug her nails on my back. Her sobbing intensified, and I finally saw her vulnerable side. I finally saw her naked, like she did me so many times. I waited for this day to come, to finally watch her weakly crumble before me, to finally relish her pain, but I couldn't enjoy it. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen in my brain as she strangled me. She was a mother. The mother of my child, and she was now without a little human to love._

"It wasn't your fault" _was all I could squeeze out. _

_I stared at her blankly as I was losing consciousness. I stared at her blankly as I pushed her head down, as we wrestled, as she was killing me six feet away from the fussy child's entrails sprawled all over her lifeless body. _

**Day 315**

_Claudine's funeral passed, and life went on. Father Vincent and the sisters led a prayer to show their respects and I couldn't find Miria anywhere. It wasn't her fault that she was too late. So was I. All she could do was stand there and watch as that soulless being finished devouring our child. I rubbed my eyes in annoyance, and I walked back to my bedroom to have some privacy. I laid down on my bed, and I heard a knocking on the door. _

"Come in."

_It was Miria. Her demeanor was the same before the youma attack three weeks ago, but I sense she wasn't casting her emotions aside either. She amazed me. She wore her feelings courageously, and she walked with stride. She didn't reject her human side, unlike me._

_I smiled. _"If it isn't phantom Miria."

_I was taken aback by her next words: _"Please come to bed with me." _This woman commanded war-hardened soldiers with her words, yet she says 'please' to me. I haven't met anybody else of our kind who uttered such subservient pleas, but I do not put it against her. We were lying on my bed, and I finally found my purpose in this world. _

_I held Miria tight as she sobbed quietly, and I hushed her. The wounds she inflicted healed pretty quickly, and I was lucky I wasn't human enough to own a concussion, back scars, broken ribs and a depleted brain cell population. I loved Claudine, and so did she. We both had something dear taken from us, but I found a new path to follow from my loss. I swore to the child I would protect her mother, and I intend to protect Miria until my last breath. I will honor my promise to my fallen daughter, and that is my new purpose._

_Her back was against my chest, and my arm wrapped firmly around her waist. Her hair smelled heavenly, and my eyes looked straight past her. The wall was empty, much like today. _

"I change my mind. I'll go with you after you're done with your year break."

**Day 358**

_I said my goodbyes to Father Vincent, the sisters and the children. It saddened me to part from the orphans, but I trust the other sisters will continue my work. The young humans cried as we parted, and I gave each of them an embrace along with encouraging words of advice. I relinquished my nun attire and replaced it with flexible leather. My broadsword, which I retrieved from its hidden place, was snuggly strapped onto my back, and was covered by the cloak I wore. After saying my goodbyes, I walked alongside Miria, and left behind everything that reminded me I was human. I just wished my illusion of a family lasted longer. I yearned for more time to savor my most precious moments, but I'm afraid I'll be too busy following Miria to the dark. _

_My companion had the look of determination in her face, and I smiled. _

**Day 365**

_Miria and I visited Claudine's grave one last time in the outskirts of Rabona. It was a quiet afternoon, and both of us held a bouquet of bougainvillea flowers to offer to her tombstone. The sun was quickly sinking, and we had to rush to meet up with the rest of our comrades. Miria and I sprinted, and I located our allies' youkis with ease._

* * *

><p>Dgiarze caught his breath, and tore his eyes away from Galatea's. The man huffed as sweat took over his forehead. Rozarsh desert was cruel, and everybody claimed their rest before heading off tomorrow to the headquarters. Galatea arched her brow; her cloaked figure was ready to pounce on danger. "Is something the matter, Dgiarze?"<p>

The man formed a smile, and repositioned his back to face Galatea. "It's nothing. Get some sleep. You'll need energy for tomorrow."

Galatea paused, only to agree. "Very well. Good night."

Dgiarze shed a tear. His ability was indeed a curse.


	6. Scene 2: Reborn Part 1

**Scene 2: Reborn Part 1**

"Teresa? Are you daft? That woman doesn't exist anymore!"

Clare's eye twitched against her control. _How dare this woman make a mockery of her? _she screamed in her head. The group of six encircled the nude creature, and El'liem's motionless vessel bled a crimson puddle on the cold floor. Dgiarze collected all the willpower he could muster not to look his dead comrade in the face. The former forty seven clenched her fists and jaw, and flinched as a blade of wind sliced her cheek and strands of her locks. The wall behind her shattered in great magnitude but it wasn't enough to completely demolish it.

"I'm sorry. I think I missed."

The attacker blankly stared at her side with hooded lids all the while her white tresses crudely hid her bosom. Her palms, inches away from her head, were messily pierced by the tip of Deneve and Helen's blades. Miria and Galatea sucker kicked their comrades on the stomach before her second attack successfully slashed their friends' cervical regions, and blood seeped through their necks' minor cuts, causing Helen to cuss like a sinner. The four crouched into their attack positions, readying to pounce, while Clare and Dgiarze shrieked in unison as they plunged their blades inches away from their target's skull. A force field deflected their bodies like rag dolls, and the glass tubes shattered as their backs crashed heavily onto them. Dgiarze regained his balance in a catlike impulse unlike Clare, who growled with intent to kill. She brushed off the shards that stabbed her and healed her trivial wounds in the blink of an eye.

Within the two's recovery time, Deneve casted a barrage of jabs onto their foe's flesh, only for each one to be precisely blocked. "She's not even moving! Everybody, keep your distance and listen to me!"

"Why don't . You quiet down. Over there." The woman's left hand rose, and her fingers danced a delicate ritual before forming into a fist.

Deneve's eyes widened whilst blood erupted from her mouth. Her feet soared off the ground, and her body froze seven feet in the air much against her will. Blood quickly leaked from her facial orifices. The bare woman tightened her fist, and the wispy haired warrior felt the sensation of crushing pressure. Her left arm and right leg bursted into mushy pulp before a puddle of red leaked to the floor in fat strings of liquid. Much like humans, seven gallons of blood flowed through their systems, and Deneve yelled as she bled profusely.

_This thing, what is it? She resembles us, but her attributes are stripped of humanity. She bore no colour in her mane, and her eyes, lips, and skin matched it: pure white. She's going to kill me. My life flashes before my eyes, but I don't want to die. My thoughts are racing in unstoppable measures, and my adrenaline is pumping. This isn't good. If my heart races faster than it already is, my body will activate its defense mechanism. I don't want to awaken. Is my rejection of death my demise? I don't want to resort to this. What will happen to Helen? To the rest of my friends? I have no choice. _

_I remember my village. I remember my family. I remember my first time I met Helen. I remember…_

A mighty gust of wind engulfed Deneve. The vortex commanded her comrades to shield themselves, and her carnal scream echoed across the room. The warrior's silver irises waned into gold as her fangs started to protrude and veins pulsated across her face. Her body was quickly evolving; her bones cracked and reshaped under her skin to accommodate her newly acquired physique, and Helen couldn't bear the spectacle any longer. "Fuck this shit!"

The mass of tangled limbs rolled on the floor with immense velocity, and Helen held her captured friend as tight as her muscles allowed her. Her voice was in haste; her breathing raced against time. "Calm down, calm down, Deneve. I'm here." All she could do was close her eyes and hold Deneve unyielding. She hushed her. Hoping and willing didn't get Helen anywhere, but logic came in second after saving her long time friend.

"Shit." Clare spat. "Miria!" Her voice oozed with adrenaline. "We need tactical strategy. Now!"

Dgiarze pierced the cemented floor with his massive blade. His knuckles turned white as he held on to his sword handle for dear life right before directing his gaze towards the white lady. Time was against them, and his eyes rolled back after his silver orbs made contact with hers.

"I thought. I mentioned I'd like some quiet."

Everything went to black, and Dgiarze fell in a trance.

_Andromeda. _

_I demolished everything in sight. I destroyed every living piece of meat that laid its pitiful vermin eyes on me. My creators, the ones that foolishly believed their fantasy of Teresa and I obeying them like a dog, were undeniably mistaken. They're not my gods. I am their god. After experimenting on her in the most gruesome of ways, my control, my will, my powers flooded through my veins as I raged from the sight of Teresa being tortured relentlessly. I grieved for her. I grieved for me. My body, which was suspended in the air, was infused with these flexible metallic rods that connected to my back. My anger… My wrath summoned forth wave after wave of youki that sliced my despicable prison, and I tore apart everything that existed in my sight. I picked up Teresa's unconscious form and carried her while I commenced my massacre. These toy soldiers with swords owned a lie of a speck of courage, and they were either a bloody pulp of meat and bones or miniature hexagons of themselves after they took a step forward. The men in black proved to be no physical threat, but I gave acknowledgement that they, at least, didn't cower and bargain unlike their playthings as I crushed them all to bits and painted the blank walls their color of death. I walked slowly in the middle of my destruction without garments to cling onto my body, and boulders crumbled above and around us. This chaos I created was what these lifeless puddles of nothing rightfully deserved, and I walked my path as everything behind me collapsed into a shameful ruin. The pillars fell like rain above Teresa and I. _

_I erased all signs of life in this vicinity, and I marched downstairs to their underground laboratory to save her. Teresa wasn't ready yet, and I'm not even sure myself when her regeneration process would reach a hundred percent. It was their mistake that they rushed her. How much power does this woman possess? I looked down at her, now that my rage was diminishing, and it only proved that she was still premature. I hid her in the farthest chamber of this structure, and fluids enveloped her naked skin all the way to the crown of her head. I placed the machine atop her mouth and nose, and she will be reborn after her slumber. I felt drowsy myself, but I walked aimlessly, only now I wore crimson against the whiteness that is me. They named me Andromeda, but I refuse to be branded. I am nameless. I felt tired, and I slept. _

Dgiarze's nose bled as he snapped out of his vision. His right arm bursted into a meaty mush, and he dodged to the right, preventing the onslaught to his head. His hair was chopped to reach his shoulders, and he snarled, baring his fangs. "This psychotic wench doesn't play around." He wiped the blood off his upper lip. Strings of muscle tissue coiled and intertwined, and within a minute his lost arm was reanimated.

Deneve's forehead was head butted by Helen. Hard.

"..ke up. Wake the hell up! Deneve!"

Deneve gasped, and her golden irises reverted to silver. Her breath was ragged, and her temperature lowered as she was losing blood.

Clare dashed in front of Helen and her writhing friend as a blockade. Her sword was pointed to their enemy, and she looked straight at her target. "Deneve, regenerate now! I know you're there, we don't have much time before she attacks again!" An invisible force slashed Clare's knees apart, and she thudded on the ground before she realized what just happened.

Andromeda stood in the center. She flipped her hands from her palm to the back of it, examining her skinny fingers as they danced in front of her. "Did the men in black send. More toys for me to destroy? This is.. Hardly a challenge. I lament your kind. Teresa laments you all as well. We are in a different caliber than you animals. We are gods."

"Listen up everyone!" Dgiarze's furrowed brows formed lines on his forehead. "I think I know what Deneve was trying to say! This thing can control her youki to slice any form of matter and can control others' to burst forth from within them!"

Tension built in the air, and silence lingered for a moment. Galatea stood in front of Miria in a protective approach, and her sword was pointed towards her side as a shield for the shorter woman. Her eyes were calm and precise, and she glared coldly as she saw Andromeda's aura suffocating the air all around them. Her voice, unlike the others', was cool and collected. "The man is right. Everybody, keep an eye on her youki. If you overlook her aura once, that will be the end of your head attached to your shoulders."

Clare's pupils stretched vertically and her eyes glowed a yellowish hue. Her voice rasped, and she collected her dismembered limbs with swiftness. "This is what we've trained eight years for." Clare, back in her soldier days, would have flipped the moment Teresa's name was spoken by unwelcomed tongues. Her temper wasn't as short as it was years ago, and she channeled her anger towards reconnecting her legs together. She closed her golden eyes, took a deep breath, and released twenty percent of her youki to merge her muscles while freshness was still a factor.

The man looked sternly at Clare. "One more thing. This Teresa person… If her memory serves her right, the woman is in the farthest rooms from here."

Deneve was fully recovering, and her eyes relapsed to silver as skin wrapped around her newly reformed flesh. She carelessly wiped the drying blood off her face, and she stood alongside Helen, who loudly sighed in relief.

"Gods!" Helen pinched the bridge of her nose. "Never. Do that. Again."

"Tch." Deneve gritted her teeth. "And bleed to death? I don't think so."

"I have a plan." Galatea walked forward, and her eyes closed as she spoke. They were unneeded for this bloody skirmish. She wasn't sure if their enemy was impervious, but her strategy commanded a more manipulative approach. A smile crept on her sly face, and she sneered at the glowing creature across her. "Teresa's alive and you're protecting her, I see."

Andromeda looked back at the tall woman lifelessly. Her lids were halfway opened, and her ivory lashes draped over her white eyes.

"Clare." The mentioned warrior carefully stood after rejoining herself. "Go find Teresa. She... shall be our hostage."

The white lady looked up at the ceiling. "Conniving woman. I'm afraid I'll have to kill you."

Galatea smirked and raised her hand. Her fingers beckoned Andromeda to make the first move.

"I don't intend to die today."

* * *

><p>"<em>This creature isn't even using five percent of her power. Find Teresa quickly. In the meantime, Dgiarze and I shall shield our comrades by manipulating our youki. I don't know how long it'll last, so make haste." <em>

Clare sprinted as fast as she could. Her sword was sheathed. She attempted sensing Teresa's youki, only to find none. Her face kissed the dirt as she sped miles per hour, and her detached right leg bled on the floor as she looked back. She cussed repeatedly.

_Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. How can you be alive? You're inside me. I saw your death with my own eyes. I don't know what to make of this, but god damn it, you have to be here!_

Wasting no time, she set away her pride and crawled towards her forgotten limb. Clare exhaled deeply, and she thought of better days as she put more attention on her thigh that meshed together with her lower leg. She waited for each string of muscle tissue to attach and stood after her bones fully calcified.

The underground halls were dark and appeared to be infinitely never ending. Thick pillars stood in columns and Clare passed them repeatedly. Her kind had the ability to see in the dark, and she scanned her surroundings leaving no stones unturned. She kept tabs on her comrade's youkis and so far their lights were still glowing. Clare was relieved, for now. The hallway was wide with unreachably high ceilings that wore cracks and abandonment. Broken down chandeliers hung from the stone made structure, and a field of owner-less broadswords penetrated the grounds before her. The short haired woman stopped her tracks in awe; a twinge of sadness pulled on her chest.

Hundreds of swords stood from the ground with different symbols etched on the blades. The claymores of various shapes and sizes stood straight while some slanted, and pieces of worn out cloth draped over the sword handles of some. Clare took a moment to see how far the graveyard reached, and she knelt on one knee and palm on the ground to respect the dead. The cemetery expanded as far as her eyes could see. No path was carved within the site causing her to jump off and run onto the walls to avoid disturbing the fallen warriors' resting place. Lifeless bodies laid against the swords, and their meat were still too fresh, despite the years, for maggots to delve in their flesh.

* * *

><p>"So you have noticed. I am not even using an inch of my strength. No matter. Smart pawns are rare, but I'll make you all extinct."<p>

Dgiarze and Galatea stood in opposite sides in front of their comrades. Sweat dripped from their temples, and they clung firmly onto their swords that stood on the floor. A combined force shield from their interlinked youkis temporarily protected the two and the women behind them. The barrier was invisible, only for it to show its glowing bluish hue when in contact against Andromeda's unseen assaults.

Youki cracked like a whip against their shield, and Andromeda effortlessly continued her attack in mild amusement.

"You're a quick learner." Galatea preffered her eyes to be closed. "You have the gist of how she's using her youki itself as a weapon. I can see now why you used to be number two."

"Heh. What can I say, you must learn now or die now. Rigaldo and Dauf weren't too happy when they downgraded," Dgiarze spouted a melancholic laugh. "and it still angers me that Isley was stronger than I. "

Galatea smiled coolly alongside her fellow single ranked comrade. "I do not appreciate you unfolding my chains of memories for your amusement, but I must say I can see you as an equal."

The man winced from her cold words, but nonetheless, he replied equally as composed. "I keep my tremendous youki inside a mental lid, but sometimes it's still too big that I can't fully control it. I dominate it for the most part, but if I let my guard down for just a second, everything will come rushing out. I do apologize for the intrusion yesterday, though I can't say it'll never happen again. It took me twenty years to control my strength, but I'm afraid I'll need more time to perfect it."

Miria, Deneve and Helen crouched behind them.

"What do we do now? This can't last forever! And why are you two conversing so calmly while we're in the middle of deep shit?" Helen formed her hand into a fist. A slap rang in her ears, and she looked at Miria's way while placing her palm on her numbed cheek.

"Galatea and Dgiarze are the only ones that can do anything in this situation. We have no choice but to calm down, and hope that Clare comes through with this, so save your breath and strength." Miria was serious, and Dgiarze intervened before any more tension rose within themselves.

"Warriors, there's no need to fret." His smile was humble. "Galatea and I are stronger than you give us credit for."

_A pulse._

_I feel a pulse. _

Clare picked up her speed as she sensed the new youki. The signal was dwindling, dull even, but it was enough for her to pick up on. "Teresa." Her heart pumped faster from the very thought of her mentor.

The light bulbs zapped on and off, and it was a war against sheer youki power. Physical prowess was ignored in the underground battlefield; all that mattered was the naked, raw youki that they could summon and manifest. The battle of will power went on, but the two warriors were slowly being drained of their strength. Dgiarze knelt behind his sheltering broadsword while Galatea still held onto her sword handle. Sweat overcame them, and god eye's fists shook in a struggle.

"It's shameful I have to resort to this." Galatea's eyes morphed into their monstrous form.

"I can't leave you to do all the work now, can I?" Dgiarze's roar echoed as a new layer of power strengthened the barrier of interlocked youki.

"I've grown bored of this." Andromeda took a step backwards. "I'm done playing with meat puppets. Time. To die."

The white-skinned destroyer stretched her right arm out, and opened her fist to expose her palm.

Breath quickly escaped Clare's lungs. Her comrade's youkis were quickly diminishing, but she was too far to go back now.

_This is not good. _

She ran towards the weak power source without a shred of knowledge on her friends' fates.

An underground lake reflected rays of light from holes on the outside. The water, mirroring their eyes, was a tranquil silver as darkness and light married on its surface. The body of water rested still without a sign of life swimming in it, while a mass of land positioned itself on its center. A lone glass chamber stood on the island with hundreds of wires of different diameters jutting out from the cylindrical machinery. The abundant flexible rods reached up into the cracks of the ceiling and walls, and they polluted the space behind Teresa's contraption. The cave underneath projected spikes on its moist ceiling, and water dripped onto the lake in a disturbingly paced rhythm that echoed against the cavern walls. Clare was near. She could feel it. Her boots' soles dragged against the soil in friction as she stopped. Her friends were in danger, and the probability of them surviving literally in one piece was painstakingly small. An otherworldly creature with the capability of crushing anything without offering her physical touch was in running distance from her, but none of that mattered right then and there. She slowly walked towards the lake in sluggish realization. She then ran in the fastest speed her legs could carry her, and jumped onto the waters and swam in a way that her lungs were neglected. She resurfaced, desperately eating air, and her clothes and hair clung onto her curves and muscles like she did to that very moment. Clare existed in that second of that minute of that hour, in that cave in that desert in that planet. Her face contorted into a pitiable expression she couldn't control and tears and mucus that she couldn't stifle after years of their separation trickled down her face as Teresa existed in the same space and time that she did.

The chamber that imprisoned Teresa of the Faint Smile hummed and buzzed, and her naked body floated inside the container filled with greenish liquids. Her lower face was covered with a mask that connected to a tube and oxygen flowed to her lungs from inside the tubular object. Clare's face was inches away from Teresa's, and even after all the years lost, Teresa of the Faint Smile still towered over her four inches taller. Clare stole a minute to soak up the view in front of her before kicking the glass vessel into shards and catching the slumbering woman's body. The green water gushed onto the soil, and Clare ripped the chords and wires that pierced Teresa's exposed back. The short haired woman dropped her cloak in the lobby long ago, leaving her with no choice but to carry the taller woman naked. Clare removed Teresa's oxygen mask after she gently placed her to ground. She then positioned her arms under Teresa's knees and shoulders, and she sped around the lake whilst carrying the former number one bridal style. It wasn't time for pondering, but Clare formed a ghost of a smile at the sight of her protector being vulnerable as ironic. She ran back towards the hallway of the dead, and hoped to the unknown gods that her friends were still breathing.

Galatea's blood splattered on Miria's face.

The woman knelt exhaustedly behind her broadsword as if it had any means to shield her. Her shoulder spewed a fountain of blood, and all Miria could do was watch as Galatea was sliced in all parts of her body, but not deep enough to hit her vital parts. Miria closed her eyes tightly. She couldn't touch Galatea. She couldn't talk to her. She couldn't help, but there had to be a way out of this. Her fears for the taller woman were quickly multiplying.

Dgiarze wasn't faring well alongside his bloodied companion. His eyes glowed with golden intensity, and his lips bled from his fangs biting onto them. His thick veins pulsated below his facial skin, while his mane stood from the winds that formed from his and Galatea's combined force.

"This repulsive whore is going to tear my flesh apart and all I can do is slightly move her attacks from hitting any of my organs." Blood painted god eye's face, which contrasted against her yellowish glare. A wet, warm sensation blanketed her back, and Galatea's eyes widened in quick realization. She turned around and witnessed her female comrades' motionless bodies falling to the ground. Helen, Miria and Deneve were sliced in half from their stomachs, and the floors shook as Galatea growled deeply, her physique rapidly changing into that of a monster's.

"Four down. Three to go." Andromeda curled her hair using her fingers with slight disregard. "You. Shouldn't have kept. Your guard down. You are at fault for your comrade's deaths."

Galatea's senses heightened, and for the first time she physically saw her attacker's youki ready to behead her. Her guillotine stopped a centimeter away from her neck, and Andromeda turned around. Her white eyes were fully opened, and she glared at Clare, who stood behind her.

Clare didn't back down from their standoff, and she drew her claws against Teresa's slumbering body. "Let us leave or I shall kill your most precious person. If you try to behead me, I shall behead her in return before my head rolls off. If you chop off my hands, I will stomp her neck to a pulp. Whatever you try to do to me, I won't hesitate to bring her down with me."

Andromeda's body turned to face Clare. "You bluff, girl."

"I do not play around." Her claws stabbed through Teresa's chest, and Clare grabbed a hold of the mass of flesh that pumped life into veins. "I have her heart on my hands, and I will crush it if you attempt anything, even after we get away."

The white eyed woman slowly lowered her hand. A feather glided down to the floor, and Andromeda's shoulder blades reshaped under her skin. Feather stems penetrated her skin from the inside, and feather after feather grew from the newly naked wings that projected from her skin and bones. The whiteness that covered her back extended beyond her head, and she looked at Clare with the promise of death.

"Remember this, soldier. You have awakened me from my deep slumber, and for that, I thank you. I will retrieve Teresa when the time is right, but for now I will humor you into believing you can make her be like you. Warn your masters for I have returned to continue my destruction. Engrave my words into your head, little toy." The winged woman looked up, and the ceiling exploded, causing the sun's rays to blind Clare's eyes for a second. Boulders crashed beneath them, and Andromeda jumped up high in the air, vanishing into the white desert skies.

Galatea's power was declining, and her warped face regressed back to normal.

Dgiarze knelt on the ground with his face down. Veins popped out from his fist, and his newly chopped hair cascaded down to cover his expressions.

Clare was catching up to her breath, and she shook as she held the body onto her. The warrior trembled as she pulled back her bloody hand off the breathing chest.

Teresa of the Faint Smile was back, and the sun shone brightly against the pools of blood that was spilt in her name.


	7. Scene 2: Reborn Part 2

_Author's Notes Part 1:_

_So, it has come to chapter 7. I have to say, thank you readers for the reviews. They encourage me into writing the next chapters for this story. I'm planning on finishing this tale, so to the readers that do worry, I assure you no matter how long the gaps may be between updates, I will complete this. Also, I'd prefer for my readers to have an account in this site so I can properly reply to them, but since some do not, I'll just reply to them here. _

_Anonymous Viewer -Z- : My reply is a chapter late, but nonetheless, I'm glad you enjoyed the extra scene. I will be putting extra scenes in after every trilogy/cluster of chapters/scenes, so I'm hoping you'll look forward to more narrative-type story telling from different characters' points of views. That goes for everybody. Also, Miria in the manga/anime might not be as skillful as a healer, but in my story I portray her as otherwise. In later chapters, I'll expand their pasts little by little, explaining how their skills improved._

_shane47: I do hope this chapter satisfies you as I kept you in suspense, and I'm always glad to hear feedback from optimistic readers. _

_Anyway, for those who wonder, I should have stated this earlier but here it is. This fanfiction is a romance between Clare and Teresa. The two might have had a more mother-daughter relationship in some people's eyes, but in 'Claymore', relations from one person to another blur into vagueness. Take for example Raki. His relationship with Clare had the potential to be of a brother-sister one, but that image may have been broken from the kiss they shared. I believe Clare and Teresa could have been lovers if circumstances differed, no matter how star-crossed they could be. I plan to take their relationship on a different course, opening the could-have-been's and should-have-been's that the story line ignored, and expand their feelings and reactions towards one another now that Clare was old enough to comprehend physical attraction and maybe even love. The same goes to Teresa._

_Another thing, Miria and Galatea have a string wrapped around them in this fanfic. The two live lives knowing only battle and blood, so it'll take them time as well to realize there's something else beyond their numerous exploitations of each other's flesh. *hint* *hint* Although Miria is the softer one between the two of them, she herself is less mentally vulnerable than Galatea, in the terms of them playing mind games with each other. There is also a romance blossoming between the two of them, and I'm putting in depth and substance in their relationship to the best of my abilities. For now, Galatea is loyal to Miria in a way that a body guard is to the person that hired them. Their situation as rebel warriors in a battle against numerous foes forces them to numb aside their feelings, or at least temporarily suppress them, but you readers already know they're not made of stone._

_One last thing. Helen and Deneve. Their progression compared to the aforementioned characters above are slower, but I assure you they are not going to be ignored. I find the two as charismatic companions for Clare and the rest, and I intend to keep them. The thought of the two as lovers has a nice ring, and I'm a hundred percent positive they'll find each other within the chaos that is 'Claymore'. They will also have a depth into them as I delve deeper into their mental psyche's, or at least attempt to. _

_Anyway, the long rant has ended. As always, I'm grateful for you viewers for sticking this long, and hopefully longer. Enjoy._

* * *

><p><strong>Scene 2: Reborn Part 2<strong>

"What're you doing, Clare?" Galatea panted while looking at Teresa then back at the woman across her.

The warrior formerly known as number forty seven laid Teresa down on an area of the floor where blood has not tainted it. It only took a second as she reached inside the unconscious blonde's chest gash and grabbed the extra mass of muscle in her hands. Clare indifferently casted aside the non-beating heart, causing her conscious comrades to look at her quizzically. The bloody viscera made a squishing sound as it hit the ground, and the three let out relieved, 'I'm glad I'm not dead' sighs. Teresa's wound healed within a matter of seconds, and Clare clothed the taller woman her scruffy cloak.

"I didn't plan to use such ghastly means of strategy, but grabbing somebody else's heart for my big talk was the only thing I could think of. I can't believe that monster actually fell for it." Clare plopped down exhaustedly besides Teresa and her two comrades, and her eyes double took at the sight of Miria, Deneve and Helen's bloody bodies split in half.

Dgiarze's face twisted as he forced himself to look at his fallen companion's headless corpse. "Your plan was what saved us. I don't really care at the moment about how grotesque it may be," He slicked his hair back. "but where did you get that extra heart?"

A stoic expression took over Clare's face; she respected the dead, but she had to survive by any means necessary. "There's a graveyard in the back with a sea of claymores and the dead. Their flesh is still fresh, and I stole the nearest soldier's organ and planted it in Teresa in case I have to resort in a performance of tearing her heart off her chest."

Galatea moved the three's halved bodies closer together. "A genius move, but could have been foolish within the next seconds had the creature prolonged her stay." She used their cloaks as pillows, gently placing the cloths under the dismembered bodies' heads. "I commend your quick thinking, no matter how risky the outcomes were."

The laboratory, or lack thereof, was greatly illuminated by the desert sun that penetrated the massive gaping hole that was formerly the ceiling. Clare's mouth was agape, and her eyes stared at the former number three in surprise. Galatea sat calmly, her legs folded underneath her, and waited as Miria's abdominal area slowly connected to her lower half. Deneve gradually reformed next to the phantom, followed by Helen. A twitch disturbed Helen's face as her muscles and organs united, but her unconscious form wasn't disturbed. The three slowly regenerated in peace, and Galatea's face was of disgust as she acknowledged the blood that coated her and her friends, the blood that was in a form of puddles on the floor, and the blood that corrupted Miria's serene face. She gently wiped her redness off Miria's cheeks and mouth with her thumb. "I managed to redirect that creature's youki before it sliced up anything vital of theirs. Their large intestines will heal, and everything else shouldn't be a problem for them. They've only been separated with their lower halves for minutes, so their organs haven't failed yet. Also, they're experienced enough to know when to suppress their youki, and it's very convincing to believe they were actually dead."

Dgiarze was as amazed as Clare. "Incredible. It's as if you all have experience in fighting something of tremendous powers before. I, on the other hand, have not even encountered an awakened being." He stood up with the strength he could muster, and picked up El'liem's lifeless head and body. The corpse limply dangled in his arms, and Dgiarze walked into the dark. "Give me time to say my prayers for my fallen friend. At least in death he will not feel the loneliness of being one of the last of his kind, and his body will be amongst our resting brothers and sisters." The back of his body slowly vanished into the shadows of the swallowing hallway, leaving Clare and Galatea to tend to their wounded.

A quietness enveloped the air, and Galatea felt eyes on her.

"What is Miria to you?"

Galatea's brows tensed as she looked down at the woman of their topic.

"When we raced across the desert, her aura turned red as she took a glance at you." The short haired woman swayed her hands quickly, ridding the blood that wetted her claws. "And when that monster hacked her, you've almost awakened. You never lose your lid, Galatea. Is Miria your Achilles' heel?"

The tall woman said nothing. Galatea was the epitome of aloofness, and even her lack of outward emotions surpassed Clare's. Her sarcastic smile from time to time would creep into the former number three's face, but Clare saw through the emptiness, the absence of authenticity in the curl of Galatea's lips.

"You're not obliged to answer. I'm just concerned towards yours and Miria's well being, as well as Helen and Deneve's." The two gave each other zero eye contact. The silence lingered, but was not awkward. Both warriors' personalities were different yet at the same time their hard-headedness and talents to put a veil atop their feelings earned them an outlandish comment from Helen: '_You two should just marry and outdo each other 'till one of you dies. God, can you guys be any more macho, it's so stupidly annoying!" _The two warrior women were far from masculine, yet their quietly stubborn and fiery personalities could intimidate even the most testosterone-laden men. Clare wasn't as offensively blunt with her words, or better yet, threats as Galatea was, and their former ranks from their soldier days proved to be their dividing line. The former forty seven had the intelligence, the strength, the determination, the bravery, and even the confidence. What Clare lacked was the overbearing pride that Galatea carried so effortlessly, as if every inch of her body radiated a fierceness that everybody was aware of, except for herself. The tall woman was a contradiction of herself. She was humble enough not to brag a word; it was in her actions that screamed dominance. The short haired woman acknowledged her companion's behaviors, but was undeterred by it. Clare was a woman of few words, and she understood actions more than any verbal communication she ever received. Back in their older days, Clare was underestimated, mocked even, by Galatea but she proved the god eye wrong not once but twice. Galatea eventually accepted the ex-forty seven as her equal, and Clare couldn't care less if she had or hadn't. The shorter woman carried herself with dignity despite the tides of condescendence that flowed against her.

"Miria is my leader, much like yours, and I can't accept her to die a dishonorable death." Galatea's eyes were closed.

"Understood." Clare finally returned her eyes at her companion. "Teresa's mental condition is unknown, and it's unpredictable how she'll react once she wakes up. She might or might not recognize me, and that could be a problem."

Galatea exchanged a glance. "What is your plan? Her youki is nauseatingly powerful, and I can feel her breaking through her coma little by little."

Clare's silver eyes were sharp. Her decision was made, and knowing her for years, Galatea didn't even bother trying to change the stubborn woman's mind once it was made up. "I will leave you to go back to the inn at Sh'iadonlem to take care of our comrades while I take Teresa far from civilization, even farther than this desert. I can't risk any more lives. If she's not mentally stable I'll behead her while she's still weak." A look of longing swam in her eyes.

The two warriors easily understood each other, and Galatea respected her companion's wishes. "So be it. I understand you have personal ties to her. If we don't hear from you within a week's notice, expect a search party in your name." She looked at Clare with dead seriousness. "One week. The moment your light flickers, we will come rushing in a heartbeat."

"Don't worry. I'll come back with or without Teresa."

Dgiarze finally reached the grave site. He sank El'liem's gigantic sword to the ground, and dug a life sized hole before the standing blade. His grunts echoed throughout the massive corridor with the darkness and dead surrounding him. He gently laid El'liem in the open soil, and clumps of dirt landed on El'liem's sleeping face and body one by one. The ground eventually ate him, and Dgiarze's shoulders shuddered. His effort to stifle his tears was futile, and Dgiarze went into slight hyperventilation. Tears ran down his dirty cheeks as he realized he was the last man of his kind. His companion of many decades was dishonorably executed, and Dgiarze was abandoned to walk a world where madness ruled.

He grabbed his blade and put it against his neck. His fists trembled as he held onto the sword handle, and slick blood rolled down to his collarbone. He was before a mass of slumbering bodies, and he stood frozen for a moment. He clenched his teeth in the tightest grip, and eventually swayed the giant sword away from him. A fresh wave of tears slid from his skin as his teeth gnashed involuntarily. He then dropped his blade before kneeling on his friend's grave. Dgiarze cussed to the gods. His voice was a whisper, and his breathing shallow. "I will join you sooner or later, but not know. I need to find Isley. He's alive somewhere, and they might still know his whereabouts." He stood whilst wiping his tears. "I'll live for the two of us, for all of us. Rest with our fellow brothers, and tell them my greetings." Dgiarze picked up his weapon and left the site.

* * *

><p>"Ah, there you are."<p>

Dgiarze's weary eyes met Galatea's. The woman finally stood, and so did Clare.

"Yes, I paid my respects."

Galatea faced the taller man. "Once my comrades fully regenerate, we will leave this place. What will you do?" Her voice had that deep resonance.

"I will take down Isley once and for all, and I plan to tag alongside your group." Dgiarze had the look to kill, and his silver eyes radiated ferocity.

"Your talents for stealing information are quite a liability on our part," Galatea crossed her arms. "but also a benefit. I'm assuming you're intending to stick around retrieving our memories until you find him. Based on our knowledge, you should already know by now that he's an Abyssal One." She saw no point in sparing the man sorrow which he already felt.

"Yes, I saw through Miria's eyes. I plan to take his head for disgracing my kin, and to end his misery in existing as a monster." His glare clashed with Galatea's.

"I have no say in this. We shall wait until Miria awakens. She will decide if you stay or not. In the meantime, you can come with us to Sh'iadonlem. Clare will separate from us for a while, but we fight if she needs backup."

Dgiarze directed his gaze at Clare. "I see. We shall await your return."

* * *

><p>The sun was quickly withdrawing towards the earth. Rozarsh desert widened for miles, and the sands glowed a yellow tinge as the rays of light touched them. A chain of footsteps were visible on the desert grounds, and Clare's silhouette sprinted endlessly with Teresa in her arms. The comatose warrior slumbered peacefully in the midst of Clare's inner turmoil. The woman she shared valuable moments with; the person who took her in when she was a lost soul was unforgivably taken away from her, only to be thrown back at her unexpectedly. What was she to do? What could she do? She was already accustomed to the tragic lifestyle that is being a half-youma and half-human, and the chance that Teresa would be stripped from her grasp a second time was gut-wrenchingly heartrending. The former number one's body twitched and Clare felt a massive wave of youki ripple. She sped as fast as she could towards the horizon, with Teresa plaguing her thoughts and reality.<p>

Hours passed, and Clare stopped her stride. She placed her blade into the ground and sat across Teresa. They rested against trees in the brink of a jungle, with the sea visibly shining the crescent moon near them. She rested in a desolate part of Vidal, where humans have forgotten such a place existed since Rozarsh desert discouraged any travelers to go farther. Her thoughts were cluttered of Teresa and of her friends miles away as her lids drooped heavily against her will. Her sight of Teresa slowly faded, and the day's weariness took over her body.

"Priscilla!"

A gasp escaped Clare's body as the guttural yell rang in her ears. The chokehold on her neck was like a vice grip, and her airways were closed, leaving her to asphyxiate. The attacking hand only tightened its powerful grasp, and the short haired woman could only attempt to weakly pry the clutch with her fingers. Clare winced in helplessness as Teresa's golden eyes met her silver ones. The taller woman huffed in confusion while beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Teresa looked around her environment in a hurried fashion, and she quickly let go of her victim.

"Where is Priscilla?" Her mighty roar broke the silence of the jungle. The former number one stood with her fangs bared whilst instinctively reaching for her back to grab a blade that wasn't there. Her breathing was fast, and Clare sat in momentary silence as Teresa dashed around the wide forest, looking for the one-horned monster that was thousands of miles away from them. The shorter woman stood after catching her breath, but Teresa was already out of sight. Teresa chased a ghost in a blind rage, breaking trees and destroying shadows that could have been the creature. She went on until she heard a voice call her name out, snapping her out of her berserk mode. "Clare..." Her voice trembled as she remembered she had to protect the child from Priscilla's newly awakening form. The darkness only emphasized Clare's youki, and Teresa rushed back to the shorter woman with the desperation to protect her. She ran and ran towards the girl until they met halfway, and their eyes met with longing, fear, confusion, happiness, and every other spectrum of emotion their minds could seize. The two stood face to face under the moon, and they froze as they studied each other, afraid that if they take a step forward they would wake up from the mind-boggling spectacle.

Clare couldn't move; it had been years since she laid her eyes on her beautiful face. Instead, she tore her gaze away from Teresa's, a foreign instinct of shyness slowly corrupting her. Her voice minimized to a whisper as Teresa's eyes invaded every inch of her body and soul. "Teresa, I-"

The taller woman was confused as to how her companion grew in size in such a short amount of time. Teresa was just holding the girl's hand as they walked away sparing Priscilla's life then beheading the naïve soldier, and here she was in front of Clare a moment later. Clare blossomed into a woman, much to Teresa's bewilderment, and Teresa quickly stripped her gaze as she realized she stared for too long.

"Teresa… You were gone for so long. So many things have happened." The shorter woman looked down, memories of her and Teresa in better times quickly rushed into her, and blood slowly overwhelmed her cheeks against her will. A pair of hands grabbed Clare's face, and the taller woman tilted Clare's head in different angles to confirm she was real.

"What have you become?"

Teresa's brows furrowed in despair. "Why did you become a monster like me?" Her face inched in closer to Clare's as she angrily spat the words out. "I swore to myself I would give you a better life than this! Why-"

A pair of arms wrapped around Teresa's neck, and the taller woman was yanked closer onto Clare. Her face landed onto the shorter woman's bosom in an effort to hush the talkative warrior. Clare savored her body against Teresa's, and the two awkwardly attempted to gain balance as Teresa suffocated against Clare's breasts. The shorter woman embraced Teresa tightly despite the laws of gravity working their way on their tangled limbs, and the two thudded hard against a tree in a clumsy manner. Clare still held on to her embrace, leaving Teresa to ungracefully bend forward whilst kneeling with her face still sunken into the other woman. She felt Clare's heart beat faster, and she gasped for air as she whipped her head back. She sensed Clare's aura intensify, and their suppressed emotions clashed onto the surface as Teresa regained her balance and hovered on the shorter woman with her fists placed on the tree. Teresa glared down at Clare, and the two breathed loudly as their lips were a centimeter away from meeting. A snarl escaped her breath as the former number one moved her face away to the side. Clare twirled harshly to her surprise, before being roughly shoved to the ground as Teresa climbed on top of her, her silver eyes boring into Clare's very core.

"Why!" Teresa anxiously pounded her fists on the ground next to Clare's face.

Clare looked straight up, and a sad smile enveloped her lips as tears betrayed her yet again. She cupped the distressed woman's face gently as curtains of wavy, blonde hair flowed down on her. The shorter woman laid on the soil between Teresa's knees and forearms, and she put up no fight.

"I did it for you."

The words stabbed Teresa in the chest, and her turmoil erupted to violence as she sank her teeth on Clare's neck. The woman underneath her gasped in surprise, digging her claws in Teresa's sides as the long haired woman sloppily lapped large volumes of blood that seeped from her delicate flesh. Clare writhed under her once protector and Teresa's body shook once she got a taste of Clare's liquid life force.

"My blood courses through your veins." The woman's face contorted in her discovery. She looked down at the monster beneath her, and Clare hushed her once more. Clare tasted the copper in her blood as she pulled Teresa's face lower, connecting their lips together with no remorse. The sorrow Clare held on to for decades met with Teresa's unsettling fears as the two accepted the moment before separating their intimate contact.

Teresa broke their kiss apart as blood smeared their lower faces. Her head found itself on the nook of Clare's neck, and the woman underneath her wrapped an arm around Teresa's torso while the other held the back of her head gently. Clare almost forgot the deepness of Teresa's voice, and the sound gently invaded her ears once again. "You're just a girl. I can't."

The two stayed still, and Clare stared at the silver moon that accompanied them. "I'm not a child anymore, Teresa. I'm a woman now. I have been for decades after you left me on this earth."

* * *

><p>"God damn it!"<p>

Helen screeched as she sat up from her bed. A pain swam inside her head, causing her to pull on her hair. Deneve laid alongside her, while Miria sat on a chair across them. "What just happened?"

Rays of light shone through the inn window. Miria had her arms and legs crossed as she faced the loud warrior. "Keep your voice down. Deneve's still resting."

The short haired woman pivoted her head towards her bed-mate, and sighed in relief as memories of yesterday's events resurfaced. "That was too close for comfort. We really owe our hides to Galatea... and Dgiarze." A certain recollection from the day before suddenly emerged, and Helen angrily pounded a sleeping Deneve on her sides, leaving Miria's mouth to form an 'o'. "You careless, inconsiderate son of a bitch!"

"Helen! What-" Miria was left astounded on her chair, standing up simply to freeze halfway.

Deneve's eyes fluttered open, only for a fist to greet her on her temple. Miria sighed in defeat, choosing to sit back down quietly as the two rumbled on the bed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The newly awakened woman was finally able to block the bombarding fists towards her face, and she gripped Helen's wrists as she put her attacker into a lock. Deneve pushed Helen's head down the bed, but regrettably so. The crippled warrior yelled muffled curses at Deneve's way, only to be coldly ignored by the boyish looking woman. Deneve grappled above a squirming Helen in annoyance. "How do you acquire so much energy all the time?" Her voice was calm with a dash of irritation. "I must know your secret."

"I feel pity for you sometimes, Deneve. Can't you put a leash on your dog, maybe even teach her how to behave?

The two stopped their rough housing as all eyes were on Galatea, who entered their room with a bag of fruits in her hand.

Deneve scooted off Helen whilst placing her feet on the floor as she sat on the bed. "Only if Miria can put one on you."

Helen and Miria face palmed as the two radiated negative auras while their gazes connected.

"Enough." Miria walked between them, facing Galatea. Her glare pierced through the taller woman, and that was enough to silence her. "We thank you for saving our lives back there, but that doesn't give you the right to ridicule our comrades."

Galatea broke away. She threw oddly shaped fruits towards Helen and Deneve after handing one to Miria. "Eat up and rest. Regeneration of that level takes a toll on the body, and you lot aren't going anywhere for a week."

"Why a week?" Helen attempted to stand, only for her legs to give in. Deneve caught the woman before she lunged her face to meet the floor.

"That's why." Galatea sat against the wall with her arms crossed. "We wait for you three to recover, and for Clare to come back with or without Teresa. Dgiarze is out picking more suitable clothes at the moment, and we can't do anything for now but to take a break."

"What do we do afterwards, Miria?" Helen took a big bite of her fruit. She flinched in pain as she tried repositioning herself to sit next to Deneve. The boyish-haired warrior looked at Helen in concern, only to be mercilessly brushed off by the feisty blonde.

"We go back to our home country. Dgiarze saw with that white demon's eyes that they had a back up refuge in our homelands, in case something backfired on them in here. I'm not surprised that the Organization's headquarters are scattered around the world, and my best bet is that the creature is heading towards Mucha right now as we speak. The southern region is the nearest from here, and that is our next destination."

Deneve swallowed a chunk of her fruit, a hint of sarcasm dripping in her tone. "Time to finally reunite with the friendly soldiers. It's been years."

* * *

><p>"Teresa, you shouldn't overexert yourself."<p>

The sea's waves crashed loudly against giant boulders that let themselves be on the shores. The forest's trees bore no fruits, and Clare rushed to assist Teresa. The waters wetted their feet as the two stood side by side against the sunrise.

"I will get some fish for you. I can see you're still recovering from whatever trauma you've suffered under their wicked hands." Clare undressed, exposing every square of her skin before diving into the clear blueness that was the ocean. She swam underwater until the sandy floor wasn't visible, and she spotted a large fish swimming away from her. She paddled her legs swiftly in a chase after the shark that finally noticed her. The giant aquatic animal met Clare halfway, and Teresa walked a step backward as the propelled shark floated in the air before crashing in front of the tall blonde's feet.

"Thank you, girl, even though I don't need to eat this much. You know that."

Clare cracked a light hearted smile towards her companion. Old habits die hard, and history repeated itself as the younger warrior's face glowed at the sight of Teresa. The taller blonde didn't find Clare's behavior as out of the ordinary, since in their older days the young girl's face was plastered with smiles most of the time when she looked at Teresa. "It was the closest animal I could find, and the most convenient. I don't know how many days or years you involuntarily neglected eating, so I found the fish as a suitable contender." Her voice was higher-pitched than usual, but was not in an overtly feminine tone.

Clare's suspicions of Teresa being unaware of her death, revival and imprisonment only strengthened, but Teresa was far from a fool, and she accepted the fact that years slipped by much to her confusion. She questioned everything that happened within the last twelve or so hours, but found her state of affairs with the fully developed Clare a pleasant and peaceful one. The wavy-haired blonde smiled a genuine smile as the naked body stood before her. Teresa casted aside her lingering thoughts and worries, and enjoyed the moment she's always wanted: a peaceful outing with the one person in the world that breathed life into her cold, savage heart.

Their moment of serenity was quickly destroyed as Teresa started to violently convulse. Her whole body shook, and her breathing raced as she held her onto her temples. A pang of indescribable pain sliced through Teresa's head as hundreds of picture like images appeared as fast as they disappeared. Clare was halfway into putting on her garments before Teresa went into a post traumatic trance. Something triggered a shard of a memory of her being brutally tortured, and the shorter woman's eyes widened at the sight of Teresa's golden eyes staring at her with the look of bloodlust. In that very moment, she wasn't Clare, but of a black figure that unforgivably destroyed Teresa and Andromeda every single day in an attempt to break down their humanity and senses of self away. Veins pulsed under Teresa's face while her fangs elongated.

Clare slowly backed away from Teresa with her chest still unclothed. "It's me, Teresa. It's Clare. Calm down."

The taller woman's youki overpowered Clare's in great quantities, and Teresa slowly walked closer towards her companion. Clare exhaustedly fell on her knees from the overwhelming pressure of Teresa's polluting youki, and the towering woman balled a fist in Clare's hair, causing the kneeling woman to flinch.

"Tell no more lies, you lowlife scum. You've killed Andromeda and me so many times, now it's my turn to give back the favor."


	8. Scene 2: Reborn Part 3

**Scene 2: Reborn Part 3**

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned."

The seasoned fighter, whose blonde strands poured down to cover her face, humbly bowed her head. The confession booth's interior was dark, anonymous, and unnerving yet comforting. A contradiction, an opposition, a fear inducing place: it is nothing but a physical manifestation of the area in her heart where that unbearable Miria resides.

"You have come to the right place, my loved child of God. What festers your soul, and what disease plagues your mind?"

Galatea was humbly positioned on the prayer kneeler, her heavy lidded eyes fixated on a delicately crafted wooden cross placed near her clasped hands. Her voice shrunk to that of a confessional whisper, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to believe in a god: a laughable endeavor in hopes that an omnipotent creature will show itself once she temporarily suppresses her sight, succumbing herself to the darkness. The god that she desperately yearned for, the god that she wished would salvage her from her demons that drag and sink never came. No matter how strong her faith is, was, and no matter how many parts of herself she would sacrifice to appease an existence that was much greater than herself, no salvation came, and no forgiveness was given to her past that haunts. Every time she crippled herself in an effort to see what was beyond the sordid life of a half-youma, a savior never arrived, only Miria, the defiant woman with the soul as alluring as the Devil itself.

"I'm afraid I've been in relations with a woman in my days as a nun."

The two whispered in the dim, righteous cubicles, where dirty secrets were willingly spilled.

The deep voice that spoke to Galatea had no face, only a chime of gentleness that lingered through the lattice that separated them. "We all deal with trials and tribulations, sister. Is it Rabona? Your accent fits the city I've been lucky enough to travel, though normal civilians have never even heard of such a place." He urged the sinner to continue.

"Yes, I worked under Father Vincent in his chapel with this woman many years ago. She corrupts my soul and heart, she manipulates me to think perverse thoughts that I never knew I was capable of. She planted a demon within me, and it has yet to blossom from a seed to a tree of lust."

The receiving end grew silent as he paused to absorb the woman's words. "God is within you, sister. No matter the evil that urges you to sin, he is a forgiving god, he is an understanding god. Lust is irrefutably a deadly act, and you must know to fight it. I will be praying for your well being."

"If this woman is a sin my will has to fight, then I am condemned for eternity in the second circle of hell."

"Sister!-"

* * *

><p>Miria's eyes rolled back as Galatea assaulted her vulnerable neck from behind. Gentle and rough kisses were altogether been planted, and the shorter woman shuddered against the wall she was forcefully cornered to as Galatea pressed herself against her back. Miria let out an exasperated gasp, her palms resting against the walls above her head.<p>

"Why did you have to get hurt in our account? You could've…" Her back involuntarily arched against the slender hand that invaded her forbidden zones. "died out there." Miria's breath hitched before escaping a quick, high pitched moan, which also sounded like a yelp.

The lurking hand found itself between its victim's long, spread legs, while Galatea's other hand intertwined with Miria's against the wall. "You absurd woman." Galatea found the pinned body's delicates, but only caressed and felt the moistness, a piece of thin undergarment the only thread protecting Miria's flower. "Always thinking about others aside from yourself. In case you haven't noticed, I fared much better than you." Her hot breath against Miria's ear only increased their already boiling temperatures. "Miria, my just leader."

The predator quickly unclasped her hand from Miria's, only to aggressively pull on her victim's spiky-esque hair which bore a tinge of caramel. Miria's head tilted to her right side, and she bit her lower lip as an invading tongue lapped the sweat off her neck while the other hand shamelessly groped her left clothed breast. The long tongue tasted the whole length of Miria's neck before stopping inches away from her ear for the second time. Galatea uttered a seducing whisper.

"You can brand my body, you can own my soul, but you can never possess my heart."

Miria breathlessly tore away from the taller woman's clutches; her carnal desire fueled her anger towards Galatea. The gang leader quickly turned around and forcefully pushed Galatea to the floor. A loud thud was heard as god eye's body hit the concrete, but even when fallen did she not lose her dignity. Galatea supported herself with her elbows to the hard surface, and she smiled dryly as she looked up at the woman standing in front of her.

"My, my. It's plain as day that you want my body. To give me pleasure or pain, unfortunately, I cannot tell."

"You're still so arrogant after all these years," Miria scorned. Blood was evidently rising in her cheeks. "Galatea, my proud protector."

Miria then crawled on the floor, finding herself straddling Galatea's waist. The two were mute for a moment as they savored their erotic arrangement. Galatea lazily half sat-half-lied on the concrete surface with her forearms still touching the coldness, while Miria placed her hands for support on the bottom woman's flat stomach, the palms dangerously close to the captured blonde's crotch. The two involuntarily inched their faces closer together, and the spiky blonde strands smelled flowery as it tickled Galatea's face. Miria's silver orbs locked with Galatea's. That serious gaze made the god eye want to rip off the smaller woman's clothes right then and there, but she only widened her instigating smile, waiting for Miria to make a pitiable attempt on dominating her.

"I can still see through you even to this day."

Blood dripped from the raw redness that was Galatea's lips. Miria had bitten the other woman's mouth in a disguise of a kiss, but the entrapped woman easily licked the fluid off.

"You were once a sacred woman, and it wasn't in my intentions to taint your holiness, but I crashed and burned as a moth to your flame."

"There's nothing sacred about me." Her delicate fingers grabbed a fistful of Miria's spiky locks and she closed her eyes as she inhaled the scent in pleasure. "The moment you and Claudine came in my life was the moment I spat on my religion."

A gasp escaped Miria's lips. Claudine was a word they never let out of their mouths.

"Now, where were we? Oh yes, the reason why you attempted an attack on me.. Because I gave you a scare in that desert, yes? It seems you have a pattern on assaulting me whenever it fits. As I can recall, you were the one that almost clubbed me to death with your brute force years ago. Does it turn you on, to see me suffer in your hands?" Galatea swung her upper body forward, causing Miria to unexpectedly lie on her back. Quick, prying fingers expertly unbuttoned Miria's leather clasps, the two fighting for authority. Galatea was indeed a quick learner, and once her brain processed the art of unclasping and disrobing Miria, the second button was barely a challenge. The smaller woman tried to stop Galatea's assault, only to end in failure. Miria's arms were harshly pinned above her head by Galatea's use of one hand binding Miria's wrists. "Tell me, Miria. Do you enjoy seeing me writhe and squirm under you, knowing that no matter what I do, you always end up in my thoughts?" The irony of Galatea ensnaring Miria beneath her was only amplified as the phantom thrashed helplessly against the tongue and lips that ravaged her breasts and nipples.

Miria huffed from her futile efforts to stop Galatea from stripping her top half naked. Her face was fully red, but she did not care. "Oh really? Don't act like such a victim, you self-important, self-centered excuse for a woman! All I ever wanted was respect from you, but you're too high and mighty to treat me and the rest of our companions an ounce of decency, much less acknowledgement! What _are _you really doing here with us, Galatea? You couldn't care less about the Organization, you couldn't care less about us or our cause."

"You are absolutely correct."

Fingers tweaked and toyed with Miria's right nipple, making her stomach involuntarily spasm.

"I don't care about the Organization. I don't care if they ruin this world around me." The taller warrior's eyes reflected a glimmer of anguish.

Galatea gently leaned down to meet the helpless woman, and for the first time she was the one to initiate a kiss. She slowly moved her mouth against Miria's, the astounded woman beneath her too shocked to move. The friction between their chapped lips was lubed with their saliva, but then Galatea's raid of Miria's physique was brought to a standstill.

"I only care about fulfilling my promise to Claudine, and I will follow you to your death." She brushed her fingers through Miria's hair, and a tear quickly rolled down her cheek against her control. Her eyes widened in surprise, wondering why a humanistic emotion to that degree encompassed her. Galatea acknowledged that she was mentally capable of having feelings, but her outward show of lamentation towards their lost child caught her off guard. It had been years that the unfortunate event had occurred and the girl would have been twelve.

Galatea was the only one able to make her look like a used up jezebel on her back with her breasts and stomach exposed, a cheated fool tricked into believing the woman atop her gave a piss of concern for herself and the rest of their comrades. Miria was a caring woman, a fine warrior: a soldier who witnessed her dearest friend Hilda become an abomination, who witnessed numerous lives taken from her imperfect leadership, a woman who's giving her all to rid everybody's root of misery: the Organization. She saw the child they both fell in love with get torn apart gut from gut with ease, and finally, Galatea conveying a very human expression. Even if the world did end around them, she couldn't bring herself to hate Galatea, this conceited woman that wore god and bloodshed with the same thread. Miria calmed herself down.

"I despise that you can physically overpower me," She tenderly wiped the falling tear off Galatea's cheek. "but I despise it more to see you distressed."

* * *

><p>Deneve closed her eyes and listened to the winds that hummed and sighed.<p>

It was nighttime in Sh'iadonlem, and the twosome decided to roam the markets and pubs as a way to pass time. They only fled the desert yesterday, but being idle for a whole week was something the fighters weren't used to. Helen strode with an uncontained curiosity towards her surroundings whereas Deneve was more reserved. The duo left their unshapely cloaks back at the inn, where they left Galatea and Miria to themselves ever since morning. Deneve was not a naïve one, and she's leniently been keeping an eye on any tricks Galatea might pull towards her close friend and leader. Deneve was always the silent type, the one that quietly works in the background in a strive to see the bigger picture, and in the past few months Galatea's interpretations of her feelings, her reactions and behaviors towards Miria had been to say the least, cruel. She's always known of Miria's denseness, but who was she to talk about the matters of Galatea's childish infatuation? Better yet, she'd rather not overstep her boundaries on the two's unclear relationship.

"Where did that Dgiarze go for a whole day? It shouldn't be this troublesome to spot a seven foot, silver haired man." Helen placed her hands behind her head in a carefree demeanor, arching her blondish brow as she glanced back and forth. Deneve could've branded Helen a simple, brash warrior, but after more than a decade of working and fighting alongside the woman, Deneve was pleased to know such a complex, caring, kind-hearted person, despite the blade-like tongue that cuts and the rowdiness that made Helen, Helen. The livelier girl promised by force from Deneve, despite her pride, to get along with Galatea as best as she can. The boyish-haired vagabond contemplated on how the god eye and Helen's unrelenting personalities can do nothing but clash, and she mentally patted herself on the back that Miria and she had the ability to douse the two's embers whenever they collided. If Deneve had to classify themselves, she and Miria would be the lightning rods that absorbed the whole party's tension, whereas Clare was more neutral, keeping to herself.

"Let him be, Helen. His youki clearly dictates he's here somewhere, though he obviously doesn't want to be found yet. We have all the time in the world, so why not just enjoy the short-lived peace? I'm sure he is."

"You know, after all this time that I've known you, you're still such a wise-ass." Her brows furrowed as she continued to ignore giving Deneve eye contact, her arms still hovering behind her head. Deneve has always had a certain careless tendency, and even after all the scolding and lectures she's given to her boyish companion, it was as if blind courage was embedded into Deneve's DNA. Her companion wasn't as bad as she used to though. "Oh, Deneve." Helen's girlish, posh voice pronounced the name richly with her tongue and lips. "I could kill you sometimes."

"You have certainly tried." Her tone was dry and matter-of-factly as usual. Deneve almost forgot the two could even argue so irrelevantly. The past weeks have been rigorous towards the lot of them, and it left everybody feeling tense and taut. Helen still spared no glance towards her companion, her almost shoulder length hair wavering against the winds.

"How goes it, ladies?"

The two turned around in surprise to face Dgiarze. His hair was cropped into short, whitish liberty spikes. His mane flowed fluidly when it reached down to his legs, but it stood short against gravity now. His mannish jaw line and neck were more accentuated; his Adam's apple obvious and jutting, and his inflexible Organization uniform was replaced with a more casual outfit: a baggy, long sleeved white shirt with laces, black leather pants and black leather boots that could survive the harshest of terrains. His chiseled features were exposed, and his face conveyed emotions effortlessly. The natural muscles he sculpted weren't as bulging as Undine's in her false form, but they were close. The robust sword he carried was left in the inn; a two hundred pound heap of steel of his exact height.

"I didn't realize all the weight I was encumbered with until I got rid of my armor and locks." He smiled, his eyes crinkling as he looked up at the dark skies. "I was just enjoying this bustling yet peaceful city before I leave it for good, talking to my people. I can see you two are fit enough to do the same."

Deneve couldn't help but smile coolly at the modest man. "Your youki suppression is striking. I'm assuming Miria recruited you in our faction?"

"A very correct assumption."

Helen grinned devilishly at the man, whipping her semi-flexed arm in the air with a tight fist. "Dgiarze, my man!"

Deneve and Dgiarze pounded their forearms against Helen's in the name of their newfound unity, the three grinning in their own ways. They have survived this long.

"I gotta say, I never would've expected to be fighting together with a_ man_. I guess not all of you are pathetic weaklings."

Dgiarze easily back stepped, dodging Helen's roundhouse kick aimed for his head. His natural fangs appeared, his childish grin bursting into a loud, hearty laugh. Helen was liking this rare male's attitude towards life already.

The former number two crossed his arms in amusement of finally finding a potential sparring partner that wasn't as sensitive as El'liem. "We must find a battlefield to commence our hand-to-hand combat, Helen." His voice wasn't threatening. Groups of people gave the three weird stares, but only walked away. "You have the spirit of a warrior, and Deneve here has the heart. Tomorrow!" His face beamed with excitement, smirking at the two. "I will teach you two my other special technique. There was a reason they once called me Dgiarze of the Void." He cracked his knuckles audibly.

"In this week of waiting, I will show you two how to erase the enemy into nothingness without the use of the sword, a much more proficient way of annihilating a foe, turning their bones into dust."

* * *

><p>"Snap… out of it. Please."<p>

Clare kneeled with the all the strength she had left. Her bones were shattered, her skin scraped with slashes and cuts, her drained muscles twitching and shaking from the overexertion as she stood. She was taking a beating from Teresa the whole day, and she didn't know how long she could suppress her youki until Galatea would sense it. Her aura, her energy was diminishing, but she didn't want any interruptions from her party. Clare gasped a pained moan before thudding face first onto the sands. This was just like the first day they have met, where she felt she had to deserve Teresa's company. She remembered their past, when she followed Teresa as a starved, thirsted human for days. It was extraordinarily painful when her feeble, miniscule body took Teresa's unmerciful kicks, when she took a leap of faith on that cliff just to take another glance at the odd creature she had wholeheartedly understood and accepted. If her weak, underdeveloped body could endure Teresa, then her matured, half-youma self could take Teresa's pain all the while easing it. Clare knew Teresa's frame of mind was still unstable, and she'll forfeit her body to save Teresa if she had to.

Teresa kicked Clare's ribs heavily, causing Clare to vomit as much blood that was left in her battered body. The woman on the ground huffed in pain, a blanket of sweat and blood caked on her face. Teresa's golden eyes glowed in the dark.

"Have you had enough? Are you feeling the pain you have stabbed into me yet?" The wavy-haired warrior stood fiercely with one foot pressed on Clare's bloodied head, putting pressure against her skull. "You're so weak."

Teresa's deep voice was hostile, and she turned the unmoving, doll like body to face her using her leg. Clare blindly scratched, strangled and clawed any part of Teresa she could reach with her hands, but the pointlessness of her defenses only provoked Teresa to pull on her right arm harder, dragging her disfigured body into the reckless seas. Clare was falling in and out of consciousness, her vision of an upside down Teresa in mental suffering against the vast night skies engulfing her. She felt no pain for a moment as a darkness slowly crept within the corners of her vision before fully devouring her. Her brief moment of tranquility, however, was destroyed as salty torrents of waters rudely invaded her mouth and lungs. A dark hand shoved her into the cold depths of the ocean, and Clare franticly wailed her arms in the air as she was quickly losing her oxygen supply. Multiple bubbles emerged from the disturbed surface as the two struggled, while great splashes from Clare's helplessness wetted Teresa's face and hair.

Drowning, darkness, Teresa. Clare's thoughts were simplified down to those three words as her hand's grasp on Teresa's hair weakened. The picture of her most important person murdering her was the last she saw as she slumbered in her dark, watery grave.

Galatea's eyes opened.

"Clare's rendered unconscious."

Deneve looked at Galatea.

"Teresa's aura is. No, was hostile, but after, I'm assuming, beating Clare to a mush, she's calming down. That woman didn't bother using any special techniques, only her bare hands in simple assaults and ten percent of her strength." A faint scowl painted her face. "That bull-headed girl suppressed her aura on purpose. I told her we shall dispatch the moment her aura diminishes, but now it may be too late."

"No." Every warrior in the inn gawked at Deneve in confusion.

"Leave them be. Teresa's strength is terrifyingly enormous that I can even feel the layers of it, but she will never truly hurt Clare. She knew the moment she isolated herself with Teresa that this was bound to happen." The slim woman leaned against the wall with the calmness of a monk. "Clare will be dishonored if we come in between her and mentor."

"But Deneve! You don't know that for sure, Teresa may not be even the same person anymore!" Helen finally looked at her companion; a piercing glare was thrown alongside her bark of concern.

"Listen!" Deneve stood in assertion, speaking to everyone. "Clare is NOT going to die by Teresa's hands. She's been suffering quietly this whole time under our noses because of Teresa's absence, so give Clare time to be reacquainted with her. This woman could've killed Clare by now if that was her intention. She is merely toying with Clare, and Clare is willing to do what it takes to get this woman back to her senses. Let's not let this situation get the better of us."

The band of five stood in a circle with a debatable matter in their hands.

"What is it gonna be, Miria?" Dgiarze crossed his arms and folded a lengthy leg against the wall.

"Deneve is correct." The phantom centered herself around her comrades, her voice clear to every detail. "Galatea, it's honorable to reassure Clare that we will come to her aid if needed, but Deneve has a point. Clare did not signal for us to take the matter in our hands, meaning she does not pose Teresa's assaults as an imminent threat. You shall be keeping a keener eye on Clare, and we will be ready to strike."

"I'm still dubious as I cannot take chances. Helen feels the same way I do too, but I will agree to disagree." Galatea relented to Miria. "Nevertheless, fighting a warrior in her aptitude even with all of us would be unwise in our conditions. I suppose we must recuperate before throwing ourselves into another messy battle, or we'll be useless to Clare."

"It's okay, Galatea." Dgiarze slid down the walls to sit. "You are only keeping your word to a friend."

* * *

><p>Her bones were brittle, but they reformed. Her muscles were pounded, but regenerated afterwards. Her exposed flesh closed, and her cranium gashes healed. She rose from the dark murky waters, spitting out the sea and shivering from the cold. She was left for dead, and Clare stood and hugged herself, goose bumps evident on her naked, dripping chest. Time wasn't her priority, and she only cared as much on how long she was blacked out for. She looked straight on forward, limping and shaking as she made her way towards Teresa, who was laid on her side on the sands, her back facing Clare. The taller woman made no movement, her sharp silver eyes looking past the darkness, her long legs crisscrossed. Teresa's face wore a dreary indifference as an aftermath of her episodic tantrum, and her lids flickered once Clare quietly positioned herself against her. Clare pressed her bare back against Teresa's clothed chest, and she shivered less after she pulled Teresa's arm around her. Teresa didn't respond as her hand draped on the woman's waist. Clare exhaustedly curled herself in a fetal position against the taller woman, and the two looked straight ahead in stillness before submitting to the night.<p>

* * *

><p>The grounds of Lautrec shook as rhythmic stomps of synchronized feet paraded across the dark, grassy terrains. The cloudy skies bore no stars; there were no lights to guide the blind herd that roamed the wide earth like a sea of harmonized vermin. The sounds of their chops opening in vain against the stitches that bind were wet and nauseating, and they whipped their heads in various angles in an effort to sniff out the scent of putrid flesh: the vile-tasting beings known as the Abyssal Ones. A lone soldier dressed in silver armor stood against the waves of the walking dead that strode against her, and the mass marched around her radius, completely ignoring the woman, if not avoiding her. The mindless creatures resembled amazonian women with slight greenish skin, their height towering over the tallest men. They almost seemed constantly punished just by merely existing, and the deprivation of their senses only made the soldier cringe in pity. Their eyes were sealed, their sense of sight long gone, and Dietrich stood unyielding with her fists balled, letting the swarm of Eaters ravage the land as far as her eyes could see.<p>

An explosion miles away from the petite woman made her cape and locks whip and coil violently along the massive wave of pure, unadulterated youki. She quickly turned around and automatically shielded herself as the blind herd that sprinted towards the sudden outburst showered the open soil in a rain of blood. Hundreds of bodies were easily tossed in the air at once, either to fall on the ground as uncountable pieces of fleshy mass or an additional gallon that soaked Dietrich in horror. Another wave of aura pulsated, and the grounds momentarily shook with great magnitude before the rushing herd of Eaters disintegrated against the winds and the earth that they stood on. Dietrich stood in awe with her jaw locked, incapable of articulating a word as she witnessed a mass genocide before her. She stood paralyzed as hundreds more of the sightless swarm ran towards their target, and she bathed in the violet rain on a cosmic battlefield of impending doom. She saw a white woman showering in blood underneath a floating Eater, and Dietrich ran as fast as she could towards the opposite direction.


	9. Extra Scene: A Winter Castle

_Warning: This chapter has sex scenes between Helen and Deneve. Aside from that, enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Extra Scene: A Winter Castle<strong>

_Sometimes I can't take this anymore. Blood splatters on my face as Deneve and I end this awakened being's feeble existence. I can never get used to their stench, much less their pained howls as I cut this monster in half from the crown of its head down to its groin, splitting its body in two. The horned being fell lifelessly on the ground as I whip my blade in the air to throw away the nasty liquids that stained it. My short haired companion's stoic and cold as usual, and to relieve the tension, I teased her as part of our usual routine. _

"Must you be so careless all the time? Look at your shoulder, you fool." _I sniggered as a devious grin stretched my lips. The snowy wasteland that was once known as Pieta was now silenced, dead. I shivered slightly as a gentle gust caressed my back, and my moody companion let out a cold 'hmph' as she sheathed her claymore after ridding it of the sickening juices that dripped from it. _

"My shoulder is the least of your worries. We must keep on going if we want to meet up with Miria and Clare." _Ignoring my banter, Deneve shielded her cold head with her cloak's hood and walked past me and the fallen creature that stained the whiteness with its purple vileness. Her shoulder soon regenerated without exertion on her part, and her blood was the only evidence that she was briefly wounded. _

"You're no fun." _I furrowed my brows in irritation and ennui, following my partner as we trekked farther into the blizzard. I wrapped my cloak around me tightly and followed Deneve's figure. I'm afraid her silhouette was obscured desperately by the whiteout, but I tried my best to keep up with my impatient friend. _

_Daylight was quickly waning, and I knew that Deneve will stubbornly keep pushing it if I didn't say anything. I let out a rude yawn as I stretched my arms, and right on cue my boyish comrade turned her head around, staring at me with her sharp, silver eyes that looked focused, refined, tamed. She looked bored, as if compared to our past battles, this was nothing to her. _"We've covered enough land for today, don't you think?" _I bluntly stated. Sometimes I wonder if my voice is what irritates her. I can sound condescending, mocking even, but in this manic world we live in, I relish a little humor, even if my sense of jesting isn't what people want to hear. But really, after watching things live just to die in front of you, what can one do? I'd rather laugh in the midst of my slaughter rather than weep pathetically to the gods that are not. Nobody watches over us from the heavens, us silver-eyed witches. We live to die._ "Let's find somewhere we can camp out in. I'm hungry too, so I'm going to make a fire tonight."

"So be it." _Deneve was quick to agree, and I suppose she doesn't want to wander into the furious snow storm as much as I do. _

_Hours had passed and with an exaggerated roll of my eyes, I let out a nasty growl from my lips as Deneve and I sat in the safety of a cave while the god damned snowstorm trapped us wholly. The cave was damp and spacious, its tunnels leading farther into the mountain it resided in but we're not interested into exploring nature right about now. The fire we made warmed the two of us as it burned between Deneve and I, and I can't help but get a tad pissed off from my stomach's grumbling, and for Miria asking us to map out the whole fucking Pieta and memorize its radius. It stretched for miles, but the Phantom was a perfectionist, and she wanted to know every landmark and escape route just in case we've been discovered. We've survived off this frozen land for five months now, but we can never forget the carnage that transpired here. Our fallen soldiers will never be forgotten, and I suspect Deneve took it the hardest out of the seven of us. I've lost hope in this war we are waging. I've lost hope when my humanity died alongside my comrades. I don't even know if I can eat another apple without flashes of the Northern Campaign diseasing my thoughts. _

"Sometimes I suspect if you're truly one of us." _Resting a straight arm on a knee, Deneve calmly sat and stared at the ice storm outside, the fire lighting her face and accentuating her cheek bones. _"You eat like a human. Must your stomach growl so unappealingly?" _She closed her eyes as she deliberately insulted me, and I can't help but crave my knuckles against her face. My arm elongated and my fist shattered a piece of the cave wall where Deneve's head rested a second ago. _

"Don't compare me to a human." _I glared at my friend. How many days have I grown accustomed to this woman's face? Tens of thousands of days? Her short, masculine hair, her cold face, her indifferent attitude. Deneve, who dodged my attack, quickly countered me before I could utter another word and pinned me on the floor. My forehead was pressed hard against the ground as she forcefully held my head down. I was clearly, obviously provoked right about now, and my fangs involuntarily protruded as I hissed at my comrade. _"Let me go, Deneve. I'm not afraid to hurt you."

"I don't think you can hurt me in the position you're in." _She tightened her grip against my hair, as if to tell me 'shut up', and right before I could say a witty, if not dry joke, my belly grumbled once again, louder this time. Our position was quickly looking comical, and in an attempt to hide my embarrassment, I flipped her over as she was caught off guard and pinned her down, wrapping my fingers around her neck. _

_How dare she degrade me into being comparable to a human? Her cold, steely eyes gazed deeply at me as I wrung her neck and straddled her waist, and I smirked devilishly as Deneve slightly winced from her lack of air. At that moment I didn't care about Miria or Clare. I forgot about Cynthia, Yuma and Tabitha. All I cared about was to make Deneve take back her offending words before I bang her skull against the stony floor. _"You don't think I can hurt you?" _I tightened my grip against her neck even more. _"Take it back, Deneve. You dare have the overconfidence to compare me with a disgusting human being?" _Anger from which I didn't know I hoarded deep down welled up so quick I accidentally unlocked my golden eyes. I snapped my arms back in surprise, and Deneve was cold and boring as usual. She uttered no relief, no show of expressions as she started breathing again, and I stayed still for a moment as I was still straddling her. A sense of desperation and grief quickly flooded my system, and I felt the urge to break down and weep, but my captive underneath me interrupted my thoughts._

"If you're really that hungry, then take my flesh."

_My golden orbs quickly waned into silver, and I looked at her in surprise. I have not eaten for almost three weeks, and even for our kind, that was dangerous. _"Are you mad? I can't-" _I stuttered dumbly from her ludicrous request, but the hunger I felt bubbled onto the surface as fast as my inner turmoil. _"I can't eat my kind's flesh! Do you really not care about your body that much? Have you no pride?" _My tone was harsher than usual, and in that moment I felt dizzy from Deneve's whole being. Her body against mine, her aura, her scent. It was as if her youki willed me to devour a part of her for my sake. Mine._

"We can't hunt in this weather and I'll just quickly regenerate right after." _She turned her head to the side, not giving me eye contact, and we both knew I was in desperate need of nourishment. _

_Hybrids don't enjoy nor savor our own meat, much less a human's. My cannibalistic act echoed through the cavern as my teeth dug deep on the base of Deneve's neck, slurping up her blood and gnashing my fangs against her flesh. Using my youki, I avoided her major arteries and helped her hasten her regeneration right afterwards. Her waist was still in between my knees, and our cloak-less bodies pressed up against each other as I hungrily swallowed and licked Deneve in her rawness. Her tense brows formed grooves in the middle of her forehead, and I sense that she was in pain so I gently caressed and ran my fingers through her short hair in hopes that it would at least comfort her as I bit off a chunk of her chest, right underneath her collarbone. I could only imagine the sensation of being eaten alive, and I fight back a sympathetic tear as I drank her blood in the name of my thirst. Her meat tasted vile, her blood like copper, but I relished Deneve as I peeled the armor off her chest. She uttered no words, her body was still, and I placed my palms gently against her torso as I nibbled a mass of her neck. I'm sure blood was messily smeared all over my mouth as it was on Deneve's neck and chest, and carnality soon took over me. I would ask the gods to forgive what I'm about to do next, but I'm afraid there's no judge in the heavens to rule out my sin._

_How does she contain it all? My tears blurred my vision before I blindly, sloppily crushed my bloody lips against hers. _"How can you act so indifferently after all that had happened?" _I sobbed. I must look like a mess, a monster no different than a youma as tears and blood mixed to cover my shattered façade. Deneve quietly studied me as her raw flesh commenced their repair, her lips smeared with her own blood. _"Why can't I be like you?" _I pulled on her hair as my lips found themselves locked with hers once more. All my fears, anger, and hopelessness erupted to form lust. My blood was hot like lava, and I erased the gaps in our bodies, hoping to rub against Deneve nice and slow. _

"You're a fool to think it's so easy for me to hide my grief." _Her golden eyes surprised me as she returned my awkward, inexperienced kisses. I have never done such a humanistic display of affection, or was it a rite before humans succumb into their lustful desires? _"You really are such a human sometimes." _Another insult. Her palm caressed my grimy face ever so gently, surprising me greater. _"But I can act like them too." _Her regeneration was complete, and the woman beneath me rolled me over so that I was now underneath her, vulnerable and weak._

_I don't know what took over me, us. Maybe we just want to forget the faces of the dead, or the tragedies that await our kind. Whatever it was, I snapped my silver eyes wide open, staring at the cave's ceiling while Deneve wearily pulled on my skin tight leather off my legs, exposing my skin to the chilly temperature. I let out a subservient moan as Deneve kissed and licked the insides of my thigh. Did I really just let out that kind of sound? How humiliating. And when did she know how to touch another woman? I let out more pathetic whimpers and moans as she lapped up my most private regions, her tongue on my inner thighs, so dangerously close to my excited, dripping womanhood. I suppose even if we've never done such a forbidden act, it was embedded in our primal instincts to know where the touch feels… _

_Good. I know the feeling of awakening. The euphoric sensation it gave you. That was my only thought: 'it feels so good.' My golden orbs quickly replaced my silvers yet again as I writhe and squirm under Deneve's touch. Her tongue had found my clit, experimenting on which directions to go to. Up and down, left and right. She flicked my hidden pearl and traced circles around it as her palms cover and envelop my heaving breasts underneath my leather armor. _"Gods, Deneve, what're you doing to me?"_ I moaned desperately as I tried to catch air. It was a rhetorical question, but I did wonder. Her fingers squeezed my already hardened nipples, inciting a jolt of pleasure to meet with my moist center. I ran my fingers blindly through her cropped hair and I arched my back from the newfound pleasure I have never felt before. It was a mistake as her tongue found itself deeper into me, and I felt as if my hunger was satiated. I was a virgin before she stole me. It didn't last me long as Deneve gently nibbled on my clit with her teeth before caressing it with her tongue once more, putting enough pressure on it to provoke spasms from my stomach. I was so degraded, half naked in a blizzard with Deneve looking down at me. I have almost awakened before, and I had the power to repel the pleasure it offered, but Deneve's touch broke my body down in the gentlest of ways. My orgasm was overwhelming, and I wrapped my legs around her neck whilst biting my lower lip. My first orgasm warmed my body so quickly, and she gave my soaking wet folds a last lap as my golden orbs mindlessly watched the boring ceiling. Another tear rolled down to my temples as Deneve hovered and looked straight below me, silencing my upcoming wail with her lips interlocking with mine. I tasted my tears, her blood, my cum, her flesh. _

_I don't know if I can recover from my climax as fast to be aroused yet again, so I gestured her to get off me. I pulled my pants up and wrapped my cloak around me. My body felt invaded, even my hands have never explored my secret parts. I was always too busy killing and surviving. With her. She put on her cloak as well, and as if nothing had happened, she positioned her back coolly against her broadsword, the fire warming us as we rested for the night. I think she whispered _"We have to carry our comrades' honor" _earlier, but I was too busy feeling my orgasms to have noticed. A surge of nausea and something unknown fluttered in my stomach as I looked at Deneve, who didn't mention another word the whole night. Maybe if I was fully human I would have the luxury to wonder if I had any feelings towards her, but I'm not, and I can't afford any superficial distractions._

* * *

><p>"Helen. Wake up." <em>Her deadpan voice gently rang in my ears, pulling me out of my slumber. <em>"The storm's gone so let's keep moving. Let's take advantage of the sun while it's still out." _Her silhouette stood in the mouth of the cave, her back facing me. _

_I covered my mouth as I let out a yawn and giggled. _"You know, you could've woken me up in a more interesting way." _My tone was teasing, almost seductive. I stood up and walked alongside my comrade, who looked like she didn't want to deal with any of my childishness today. _

"What would Miria and the rest think if you keep talking like that to me?" _Her voice was low and she didn't bother to look at me. A second later she was a sprint away from me, dashing into the wintry planes with her cloak whipping in the air. _

_I caught up to her in no time, and I chuckled, putting on my mask for the day. _"She would be baffled of course, but she wouldn't be too surprised since I've known you for too long that I can get away with saying such odd things." _I smiled evilly at Deneve, relishing her uncomfortable atmosphere before leaving her in my dust. _

_It's true that I've known that serious woman for too long. My reflection stared back at me as I stood in the edge of a wide, frozen lake, miles away from when we started our race. It's the first we've spotted yet, and I looked around my surroundings, embedding the imagery in my head to satisfy Miria. Pine trees tall and short scarcely grew in this icy land, and numerous ruins and broken down statues scattered about, all covered in the whiteness. The thick ice coated the cold water that bore my face, and I couldn't help but frown my lips and flutter my weary eyes. It was troublesome to smile all the time, but I suppose somebody had to entertain Deneve. Was it wrong to try and put a smile in that horrifyingly aloof face of hers? I was the one who has to look at her dark face all the time, not her. _

"This is beautiful." _As expected, Deneve walked towards me, halting so we stood side by side. _"This would be a worthy graveyard for our friends. They'd be frozen in time underneath a lake of ice." _Our bodies didn't rot nearly as quickly as humans do. Her face casted a look of melancholy before her eyes darted at me. I found it odd that she even noticed the lake's aesthetic value. _

_I nodded in agreement before carelessly dropping my cloak, followed by my pieces of armor. My garments covered the snow, and I walked naked on the lake of ice, my skin impermeable to the cold temperature at the moment. _

"What're you doing, Helen?"

_I didn't look back as Deneve shouted. Her youki flared depending on her emotions, and I could sense she felt flustered. _

"I need to bathe, of course." _I replied coolly as I slowly walked to the center of the lake. _"I can't stand to move another muscle knowing I'm filthy all over." _I needed to clear my head of you, and to rid your essence off me. You already branded my flower as yours, the least I could do was stop my racing thoughts, to stop time even for a moment. I released roughly below half of my complete youki, melting the thick ice sheet below me, and I dropped onto the frosty waters, every inch of my prickly skin exposed to the lake. It felt as if ice was injected in my veins, and in that moment I forgot everything. I sunk deeper and deeper as I savored the tranquility, but sturdy arms wrapped themselves around me, disrupting my sense of peace. I gasped in surprise, letting out bubbles to reach the surface now so far away, and I felt her naked body press up behind my bare back as we sunk like dead bodies. One arm was looped under my armpit, her forearm between my breasts, her hand grasping my shoulder tightly while her other arm wrapped itself around my waist. My eyes rolled back from under my lids as we stood in the bottom of the lake, her kisses grazing my neck. Our hair flowed fluidly underwater, and I couldn't urge her to stop as she held and kissed me. There were no words, just limited amount of air, a prison of ice and the two of us. The lake was deep, its water crystal clear, and Deneve's hand slowly crept down to my secret regions as her other groped and caressed my breast. We were already wet, but my slickness was a different fluid from the water. Before I knew it, a lone finger penetrated me, eliciting a muffled gasp from me. How can you do this to me down here? I squirmed in her touch, her grip on my waist tightening. She kept thrusting in me, adding another finger. I felt her rhythmic thrusts in the pit of my stomach, my walls ever so tight. Blood corrupted the clarity of the lake, and she completely stole my innocence, deflowered me wholly. My fleshy barrier tore from her fingers, and for a moment it hurt. I gritted my teeth, my claws clamping down on her thighs, and I exposed my neck for her to kiss. I couldn't take it anymore, my heart raced from too much stimuli, my oxygen was quickly running out, and I broke from her grasp before swimming to the surface. _

"I was trying to get you out of my head, and you decide to fuck me underwater." _I exhaustedly glared at her as our heads poked out of the lake. I couldn't help but feel warmth in my face, and I'm not sure if it's from anger or disgrace. It's Deneve that stole me, so I didn't really mind too much. As long as it was her._

_She shook her head, ridding the droplets that clung onto her short hair. _"You wouldn't have let me if you didn't want to." _She splashed glacial waters on her face before facing me with that look she always had. _"If you're really that angry, you can punish me to regain back your pride."

_I swam towards her, my body merely an inch away from hers. A look of confusion etched my face, and I stared at her, hoping to get a glance into her soul._ "Why did you take me?" _I'm more of a bothersome friend to you, aren't I? _

"You're the one that kissed me first," _She ran her fingers through her hair. _"and I know you long enough to sense what you're feeling at the moment."

_Screw it. I wrapped my arms around her neck, disturbing the calm water. _"So you decide to break me in our comrades' graveyard?" _She knew I was teasing, and before she could utter another word I pressed my lips gently against hers. She reciprocated my gentle kisses, and as seconds grew into minutes our make out session grew hungrier. My tongue invited itself in her mouth, and my saliva mixed in with hers as our tongues wrestled and twirled for dominance. I let out a faint whimper as our arms wrapped around each other, and my humanistic desires flooded my brain once again. I never knew I, we were capable of sex. This whole time I thought we were all asexual, but my thoughts of our kind evanesced as her fingers thrust into me once again. It didn't feel as raw and painful as it did underwater, and my mind couldn't fathom the pleasure she was giving me. My face was warm, I could feel it, and her cold, silver eyes stared me down as my lips quivered. I wrapped my legs around her waist helplessly as her fingers slid in and out, and I couldn't help the sounds that came out of my mouth. _"Deneve.. I-" _I gasped in between my incoherent babbles. _"Deneve." _Her fingers were relentless._ "Deneve." _They wouldn't stop._ "Deneve." _My brows are furrowed, my nipples hard against the cold and from my arousal, and I clawed her back and bit her shoulder in an effort to stifle my scream. I arched my back in a catlike manner as she lapped up my neck, the waters all around us splashing from our prohibited act, and my chest heaved as I couldn't take it anymore. A wave of pleasure crashed and ran me over, breaking my body into jelly as I held on to Deneve weakly, trying to catch my breath. My tightened walls released their clasp on Deneve's fingers, and I shivered from what just happened. I suddenly felt self-conscious for reaching climax too fast, but I'm sure Deneve wouldn't last long either. It was only my third time getting ravaged. Blood mixed in with the waters once again, and turning Deneve around I blushed as I saw the claw marks on her back dripping with her blood. _

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I did that to you." _I giggled in surprise as I was still catching my breath._ "I forget my strength… sometimes."_ I managed to huff the words out._

_For the first time in weeks, she let out a smile. She even chuckled. _"I suppose it proved you enjoyed it." _Her tone ever so cold, was warm at that moment, as if I took a peak of her soul for what she really was. My eyes softened as I gazed at her lips that proved to me they could curl upwards._

_I blushed once again for realizing I've stared at her for too long, and dipping my body in the water one last time, I stepped out of the giant hole I made in the icy lake, ditching my Deneve once again. _"I suppose it did."

* * *

><p>"Nice to see you two haven't bumped into enemies." <em>Miria greeted Deneve and I as the seven of us stood tall, our cloaks waving and flowing against the cool winds. <em>

"We have, but nothing we couldn't handle." _Deneve added in, her cool demeanor never breaking. _

_I greeted the five of them, and even poked fun at Clare and Yuma, seeing as they were the most prone to getting teased the most. Tabitha and Cynthia only smiled in mild amusement, while Miria and Deneve frowned at my playfulness. _

_Faces flooded my sleep. Who died again? Flora. Zelda. Undine. Veronica. I couldn't remember the rest, but I knew their faces well. It was the same nightmare every night. Who was that single digit that stood up for Clare when I brashly greeted her? Jean, was it? I think so. Their deaths replayed in my head every night as I sunk into the depths of sleep, and my mind was cruel enough to make up different deaths for them sometimes. It all plays so clear in my head, like I'm watching it a few feet where it all happened over and over again. Jean getting butchered. Then Flora, then her, then her, then her. _

_I let out a pained gasp as snapped my body up. My breathing was labored and cold sweat blanketed my face. I looked around in the dark and noticed Deneve's aura was absent. The underground ruin we resided by was silent, and I crept out without disturbing my fellow warriors. I ran and ran, the gentle snow flakes melting on my skin as I dashed as fast as my legs could take me. I didn't need to look for her youki to know where Deneve was. I clenched my jaw as I tried to erase the images out of my head. The winds caressed my short hair, and it took me an hour to reach the frozen lake. _

_It was indeed a winter wonderland. I stood in bewilderment as the moon shone light to the frozen body of water, giving it a bluish hue. I swallowed hard as I stood quietly, the light snow pouring down, and I was staring at Undine's sleeping form leaned against a tree. She looked peaceful, fresh, as if any moment now she would open her eyes and bark at me for staring at her. She couldn't though, since she was split in half horizontally. She was carefully placed to rest there, and the second I turned back to stare at the frozen lake I saw Deneve in her armor emerge from the cold, dark depths of our secret place. I knew what she did. What she was doing the whole time. Her silver eyes glowed in the dark, matching the full moon that was behind her, and she looked magical, mysterious. She never swam, she just walked her way from the deepest floors to the shores of the lake, meeting me as I clenched my fists and calmed my wailing heart. Her face inched towards mine, her lips grazing against mine before walking past me to pick up Undine's cold corpse. Deneve carried the long haired woman bridal style, and Undine looked fragile, her feminine beauty was obvious without her muscles obstructing it. Her silver hair fell like curtains, and Deneve walked into the frozen lake, its ice split in half from where Deneve was leaving and entering, and her back vanished, the murky depths engulfing her fully as she buried the last of our kind. _

_I stood there, silenced, and stared at the whole beauty of it. The snow was white, pure. The moon was bright, the lake a crystallized mausoleum for our fallen friends. I was paralyzed, mute. Their cries and faces tortured me for so long, and in this moment I felt like Deneve set them free to rest in peace. Deneve set them free to slumber in their frozen oblivion, and I couldn't help but fall on my knees. My comrade emerged once again from the frozen depths, and she looked down at me, her body dripping. _

"Regain your humanity, Helen. You're beyond the rest of us, and you're the reason I keep believing our kind has hope for salvation."

_I looked up at her with lips agape, my eyes wide. I knelt shakily as I processed her words, and for a second I forgot how to talk. She leaned down and gave my lips a kiss before standing in the edge of the frozen shore. Deneve was healing me, pulling me from my brink of surrender, and I almost forgot I wasn't fully a monster. I was half human too. She saved me from my demons. From their tormented faces. My claws clenched on the soft snow, and my face twisted as I watched Deneve, tall and proud, pay her respects one last time to the lost souls that she prayed would find their way. _

"Deneve, I…" _I wasn't as scared as I used to be. I'm always going to be stuck with you, aren't I? _"You're doing all this for me."

_She finished her praying but she never turned around. Her wet armor clung onto her deliciously. _"I've already sworn to protect you from your enemies. Please, Helen, let go of their ghosts and move on."

_She's right. I can't live in the past forever. It'll take me a while to enjoy the simple pleasures of life like I used to, but I know I have her, and I know I have my sanity, even if sanity means to be a little insane in this frenzied world . _"I think I could fall for you." _A shyness I never knew I harbored crept up, the fire in my heart competing with the snow. _

_Deneve looked up at the stars. _"A monster like me doesn't deserve you."


	10. Scene 3: The Ripples of War Part 1

_A/N: Lol, So it has come to chapter 10. I thank my readers who are still reading this, and I have to admit, I have a lot of fun writing this installment. _

_Ann E. Casap: I know I said I'll have the next chapter within last week, and even if I'm late within a few hours, I will wipe the sweat off my brow and say "close enough". xD _

_Anonymous view -z-: I'm glad you thought of Helen and Deneve's side story as beautiful, I figured 'hey, a sex scene would be nice to relieve the thick tension of this story'. If my readers endured chapter after chapter of drama, might as well reward them with some lemon ;D _

_As for 'Just Some Insane Person': Underrated? I'm honored of your implication of my story's worth. And in my opinion, there are a LOT of underrated stories in here. Like Buddhacide's works. Honestly, I'm writing this for me and for the readers out there that enjoy this, so in the end, I'm still going to keep writing, no matter the gaps of my absence, or other issues out there. _

_I say, you all keep enjoying and I'll keep writin'! -rolls up sleeves in determination-_

_Anywhoo. Long rant over. Happy reading, and stay cool. -does lame peace sign pose- _

* * *

><p><strong>Scene 3: The Ripples of War Part 1<strong>

Cooling her warm face with the sea water, Teresa kneeled on the shore. Her ears twitched at the ring of Clare's voice, and her trademark smile was etched faintly on her lips.

"Fight me."

It was dawn; the ball of fire was barely creeping up in the sea's horizon. Clare stood behind Teresa, repeating her words as the taller woman shook her wet tresses.

"I said fight me."

"I do not wish to hurt you once more, girl." Teresa didn't bother to face her companion. The sea sparkled like a blanket of diamonds as the sun's rays reflected and penetrated the massive body of water, and the former number one stared at the waves wistfully, the gentle winds blowing her wavy locks. "Don't you remember what I did to you yesterday? I can't be trusted, Clare. I don't know exactly what they did to me, but when I had those flashbacks, I couldn't control my rage." Her calm demeanor coated her words, yet the firmness was apparent. "I just knew I had to protect myself and … Andromeda."

"Are you afraid to spar with me?" Clare closed her eyes, not backing away from the proximity the two shared.

A 'heh' escaped Teresa's lips. "I'm afraid of what I can do to you. You have my flesh and blood in you, correct?"

Pausing at the oddness of the question, the shorter woman gradually said "Yes." Clare quickly grabbed the handle of her sword and in an instance, she flung the heavy steel behind her, stabbing the sands near the edge of the forest. "It's unfortunate your sword isn't with you at the moment, and a warrior without her blade is a crippled one."

Teresa finally turned around, and her faint smile never faded to a frown. She looked at Clare with interest, arching a brow at the shorter woman. "So you wish to fight hand to hand against me, is that right?"

"There are only two rules. First, when either of us yells 'stop', the other stops. Second, we can't kill each other." The short haired woman spoke calm and nonchalantly, and Teresa chuckled at Clare's determination, and at the irony of her words compared to the past night's events.

"And what makes you think I would risk the possibility of hurting you again?" Her deep, womanly voice sweetly invaded Clare's ears, dilating her pupils in the process. Teresa's hands latched on her hips, her silver gaze never wavering from Clare's. "I tried to kill you, I really did."

The former forty seven looked up at Teresa, whose curvaceous figure blocked the sun from her view. "I need to see how strong I've become compared to you. And I know you wouldn't truly hurt me. It's their fault for corrupting your mind." A look of hurt she desperately tried to hide was evident on her face.

Tilting her head down slightly, the wavy haired warrior placed her forehead gently against Clare's, and the two closed their eyes as Teresa quietly whispered. "You don't need to prove anything to anybody, you silly girl." The warmth of her words distracted the shorter woman for a second.

"Damn it, Teresa, I'm not a girl anymore so you can stop calling me that!" Hands grabbed a hold of Teresa's shoulders, softly pushing the taller woman away. A look of seriousness shone on Clare's silver orbs, and placing her body in a fighting stance, Teresa's smile widened slightly before matching her opponent's fighting position.

"If you can manage to throw me underwater, I'll stop calling you 'girl'. It's only a force of habit, and if you're willing to challenge me, I'm willing to make it fun."

Clare jabbed an arm towards Teresa's nose, but the taller woman was long gone. A second later, the former number one slid undetected behind Clare, and with a swipe of her leg, the shorter woman found herself on the sands, eliciting a gentle laughter from Teresa.

"Come now. Surely you aren't as ineffective without your broadsword, _warrior_." She was definitely teasing now. The wavy haired fighter tucked a blonde strand behind her ears as she stared at the sea. Jumping backwards high in the air, Teresa easily dodged a kick aimed for her stomach, and looking down she saw herself descending towards the waters. Releasing a miniature percent of her youki, Teresa folded her arms as she stood on the surface, the calm waves teetering her back and forth.

"Tch." Clare's brows tensed as she jumped towards Teresa's direction, and with a kick ready, Clare hammered her leg down on the head of Teresa's afterimage. A massive splash soon erupted on the surface, and Clare found herself struggling underwater. Swimming up quickly, she shook her head and conjured up a moderate amount of youki, enabling her to run on the sea's surface. The waters splashed roughly against her bare feet as she chased after Teresa of the Faint Smile, and the two landed and dodged a barrage of fists and kicks while maintaining their balance on water.

"Not bad." Teresa hummed lazily.

Clare's eyes widened as Teresa stopped her punch in mid air. Grabbing the shorter woman's arm tightly with both hands, Teresa obtained momentum as she twirled her opponent a full 360 before flinging her towards the forest. Clare crashed heavily against the trees, leaving a trail of broken wood on her path before finally stopping, hitting the umpteenth tree in the process. Disturbed jungle birds cawed and scattered away from the trees, and Teresa, who was now a shadowy figure from afar, stood still on the waters as she waited and taunted. Clare threw away a heavy branch that trapped her underneath, and looking at her foe's figure, she gritted her teeth as she jumped towards the sands.

"If your heart pumps my blood, then I wonder why you're so easy to throw around." Teresa smirked as she eyed Clare, who unlocked her golden orbs. The shorter fighter dashed quickly towards Teresa, commencing a faster chain of punches only for the taller woman to dodge as easily. Teresa flipped and jumped backwards on the sea's surface every time kicks, jabs and grapples headed her way, and as Clare inched herself towards her once again, Teresa jabbed two fingers against Clare's forehead, causing the shorter fighter to jerk her head backwards and stagger on the splashing waters. Losing her concentration and balance, the short haired woman sank once again underwater, splashing the surface as she dropped heavily.

Another melodic laughter escaped Teresa's lips as she watched her younger companion below her splash and cough about. "Ah, what a humorous reminder of when I threw your puny body on that lake to rid yourself of youma stench."

Composing herself, Clare mustered her youki to step on the rocking sea once more. Her golden irises glowed as it dimmed to silver, and clenching her fists, she glared at Teresa. The sun was entirely visible among the skies now, coating the sea a deep blue as light granted it color. "I don't love you, Teresa."

Finding herself dumbfounded for a second, Teresa caught herself staring at the cloudless skies before Clare tackled her fully, throwing the two of them underwater. Blinking her silver eyes, Teresa looked down as the two sank underneath the sea. Clare released her rather tight grip around the other woman's waist, and the two whipped their heads on the surface as they gasped for air.

"You can't call me 'girl' anymore." Clare stated in satisfaction before swimming towards the shore.

She quirked a brow. "And that was quite a sneaky move." Following the other woman's lead, Teresa swam underwater before reaching the shallow seas.

"That was how Priscilla got you." Peeling her upper garments off, Clare hid her breasts as she walked towards the forest. "I saw your end with my own eyes, and from that day on I swore to avenge your death." The short haired woman undressed her legs afterwards, hanging her wet garments on a tree's branch. Feeling the winds dry her slick body, she turned around to face Teresa, whose face bore obvious anger from Priscilla's cowardice. "I can only tell the truth to you, Teresa, and when I said I didn't love you, that was an utter lie only to stop you from calling me what I'm not."

"You really have changed from being a needy little thing into an honest matter-of-factly woman." Peeling the clingy cloak off her body, Teresa's naked form stood besides Clare's as she hung her wet article of clothing to dry on the same branch. Silence soon lingered in the air, only to be broken by Clare's softened voice.

"I have no use for deception unless truly necessary, that's what you have taught me." Silver eyes looked up at Teresa, only for Clare to look away in embarrassment. She hugged her chest protectively, but it only accentuated her cleavage. "And in this moment I fight the urge to touch you."

"Are you physically attracted to me?"

A pause. "Yes."

Gentle hands caressed and accustomed themselves to the shape of Clare's face. "I get that you've changed, Clare. You've grown behind my back, but let me get used to this new situation first." Pulling her hand back, the taller woman clenched her fists. "I've always seen you as a child before, only for me to wake up one day and see you a grown woman that strayed from the path of humanity. And for that wretched Priscilla to have ended my life unknowingly, everything's a clutter to me right now. If I haven't trained myself in the past to accept a tragic fate, then my frame of mind would've been worse than it is in this moment. Tell me, who is dear to you?"

The two stood unmoving. Clare gazed at Teresa, silently begging for the taller woman to take her words seriously. "You, the one I've lost for so long. There was also a young boy that accompanied me almost a decade ago, but I've no luck in finding him. He must be a man now, I can only imagine. I believe he is not dead, and he may still be looking for me somewhere."

"Maybe one day, I'll have to fight him for you." The taller woman smiled as she turned around towards the sea. Walking away from her companion, Teresa plucked Clare's broadsword and swung it mightily, slicing the winds. Testing her grip on the handle, Teresa's fingers played with the sword's hilt as if all the years lost didn't rust her swordsmanship skills. Her arms easily swayed the heavy steel back and forth and with a powerful swing, Teresa stabbed the faraway tree across Clare who stood still in admiration. It's been almost two decades she hasn't seen the Faint Smile dance with a sword, and here she was before Clare, naked and mighty, swiftly hacking and slashing as if the metallic extension of her limb was a brush to create art with. "That time will come but for now, I need to find Andromeda. I'm not surprised if she's seeking her revenge right this moment, and I know what she's capable of. I remember her so clearly, yet how we met or how we got tortured is still a blur to me."

"Are you willing to stay with me, or do you intend to do that alone? She's somebody dear to you too, isn't she?" Placing a palm against a tree, Clare leaned under its cool shade.

"Jealous?"

"Yes."

"I've summoned hell by killing humans and fellow soldiers altogether to prolong my existence with _you, Clare_. The real question is will fate allow us to walk this world together one more time?" Teresa beckoned for her companion to join her. "Come, _woman_, let's have a swim together." Sticking out her hand for Clare to hold, the wavy haired warrior shielded her eyes from the cracking of dawn. "I'm glad I've provoked jealousy from the woman that provoked tears to shed from my eyes from days so long ago."

Two naked bodies erupted hundreds of miniature bubbles underwater to rise as they sunk face to face. Silky blonde strands swayed slowly against the tides of the salty waters, and their fingers intertwined as they paddled their legs, maintaining their place not too far from the surface. The sun's rays shone underwater, its slivers of light hitting each of their skins. Teresa's long strands tickled their naked bodies, and time was void as they clung onto each other's hands gently. The world abandoned its axis as they closed their eyes and let their youki take over their senses. The cool waters swallowed them up completely, touching every bit of their exposed selves, and there was neither hatred nor madness, only soft hands lovingly holding each other. Their youkis aligned for the very first time, and there was only a deep sense of otherworldly love accumulated from the days gone by. The fishes swam away from the interweaved figures whose souls yearned to hold each other as their physical forms had. Body against body, Clare's hand held the back of Teresa's head as her other arm wrapped tightly against the other woman's waist, and Teresa breathlessly fell deeper against Clare's protective embrace.

* * *

><p>"A new war is waging."<p>

A band of eight blackened figures stood side by side atop a fortress. The headquarter in Staff, Sutafu held its ground for decades untouched.

"Teresa is awake, and Andromeda is bound to upset the balance of the Abyssal Ones' hierarchy." A hooded figure stood in the middle, the shadow from his clothing concealed his eyes as a scratchy sound escaped his throat. He was of short stature, yet he released a sense of authority from the way he carried himself. Wrinkles displayed themselves on his lower face, and his right sleeve jerked aimlessly along the winds from the lack of an arm. A cane was held with his left hand, and his wrinkled fingers slightly shook.

"Oh my. There are just so many different factions, I can't fully keep up." Rubel playfully smiled as he adjusted his sunglasses. The dark figure let out a low hum as he fixed the tilt of his hat against the wind. Counting with his fingers, he cheerfully reminisced on events of the past as his hidden eyes stared at the blue skies. "There's Priscilla, then Isley, then Riful, and lastly Luciela. And then that Phantom's brigade is lurking around, waiting for the right moment to strike. This is a mess, such a mess. If we are lucky, Andromeda will settle for the Central region, but that is highly unlikely."

"There is also a civil war atop of all this." A taller man stood still, enwrapped in his cloak as he addressed the elder in the middle. A frown curved itself on his lips which were tarnished by a downward scar. "How will we handle the survivors in Vidal knowing we have left them for dead? Their scientists are already making new hybrids in another continent, and I'm afraid to say our attempt on purging our traces in Vidal is causing quite fallout. Teresa and Andromeda are proof of that."

Rubel took a moment to appreciate the pre-chaotic serenity. "We have to acquire administrative allies from headquarters all over the world if we even consider battling them. I do hope it will be no surprise to you all if some countries are against us as some are with us. The survivors do have the advantage of being more scientifically advanced than our scientists here, but we have the… perfect resources to combat any more abominations they decide to create. Through trial and error they will eventually succeed in creating the perfect gods, but considering how they failed with Teresa and Andromeda, time is essentially on our side. For now." He smirked at the irony of his words.

"Gods, angels, demons, monsters, youma, witches… Whatever you call them, it doesn't change the fact that we brought life to these saviors." His wrinkled lips struggled to get the words out. "This world's humans are slowly being corrupted by temptations and sins, and the gods will keep punishing them as long as humanity's evil thrives. This is the Organization's purpose, to cleanse humanity for a better tomorrow." The elder wheezed as he attempted to cough. "Without us, humans would have been damned a long time ago. They need us to create demons, so they can run in blind faith after a god that will save them."

"Come, Zeitna, you have prolonged your stay outside. Your body needs to rest now." The scarred man supported the elder as he struggled with his cane. Zeitna coughed violently before losing consciousness, and supporting arms stopped Zeitna before his frail body hit the grounds.

"Go assist Feratu, you lot." Rubel stood still against the winds as the other five figures accompanied Zeitna and Feratu. "I wonder how Clare will react once she unwrapped her present?... Will she like what's in store for her once Teresa's potentials are unlocked? This whole situation is just too much for me." Clasping his hands behind his back, Rubel daydreamed peacefully as he stood alone on the edge of the garrison.

* * *

><p>"What have we here? A guest? I haven't had a guest in almost a decade, mind you."<p>

The leaves were carried a different direction as the winds changed their course. Silence encompassed the thick forest, and Dietrich, who rested against a tree, looked around cautiously for the owner of the voice. Tightening the grip on her sword's hilt, the warrior clumsily dodged the oncoming assault on her which looked like a blur in her peripheral vision. Unsheathing her broadsword, the fighter instinctively slashed her attacker but instead of cutting through, her blade recoiled from Dauf's impenetrable skin.

A girlish giggle sedated Dietrich for a moment, who stood with a frown as she glared at a seemingly harmless child, a girl. Next to her was an unfit looking man whose age greatly surpassed the girl's. A dimwitted look bore his face, while the girl's was plastered with a smile.

"Riful of the West. Your attention shouldn't be focused on me at this moment." Distractingly studying the skies, Dietrich's voice shook as she spoke.

Resting herself on a tree stump, Riful sat frailly with a cheerful veneer; her fists supported her cheeks as she leaned forward. "You speak so conceitedly, as if you think my life revolves around you in this very second. Dauf, can you kindly break her bones so she does not move around so annoyingly?"

Cursing to herself, Dietrich dodged the oncoming assaults of projectile rods, breaking and annihilating the trees behind her instead. Jumping from branch to branch, the petite soldier survived Dauf's ambush in the nick of time. The shafts stabbed the earth and broke trees, and Dietrich sprinted and jumped in an unpredictable rhythm, making Dauf's timing weaken. Her figure grew smaller and smaller, and she clenched her jaw as a heavy rod grazed her skull, disturbing her tightly secured pigtail.

"Riful, she's hard to hit! What do I do?" Dauf whined as more rods shot from his arms.

The seemingly small girl who was now a distance away shouted in mild annoyance. "You better catch her or I won't even spare a glance at your way. Would you want that?"

Shaking his head in desperation, Dauf stammered as he sped up his pace after Dietrich. "N-no! I won't stand you acting like I don't exist!" In a surge of panic, Dauf shot his fists in the air, and a rain of rods fell on Dietrich. The metallic beams fell heavily and crucified the warrior on the ground, eliciting a pained growl from her lips. She knelt with a knee and a fist on the ground, and the long beams were slanted as they pierced her body to stab the grounds. She bled slowly from her pierced shoulder and stomach, and Dauf chuckled dumbly as he caught up with her.

"You're a quick one, hehe, but my rods are quicker."

"Like I told your mistress, I should be the least of your worries. They'll come to kill you two, and-"

Leaping over Dietrich on all fours, a single Eater spun and latched itself around an unsuspecting Dauf's neck, and his awakened form staggered backwards in surprise. As he yelped in confusion, the Eater sunk its maw on the armored being's neck barbarically, pulling off a mass from Dauf. Blood sprayed on the blind creature's face, and Dauf shouted in pain as he smashed the womanoid's skull against his fists. The bound soldier stayed still as the two fought directly behind her. Dietrich flinched from the pain, but she knew not to escape and keep still in her crucified state in order to survive the upcoming events.

Growling in anger, Dauf bludgeoned the creature into a pulp before tears spilt from his golden orbs. "This ugly thing just bit me on my neck! I'll choke you to death with your guts!" Seething with anger, the armored being pushed out a massive rod from his wrist. Gripping onto the beam tightly with both hands, he grunted as he impaled the Eater on the stomach, pinning it on the ground. A wet, gurgling sound was heard from the trapped creature, and Dietrich closed her eyes shut, desperately trying not to pass out from her immobilized state.

"What's taking you so long, you imbecile?" Riful walked towards the three bodies, and squinting her eyes in curiosity, she pointed a finger on her cheek. "What's that you got there, Dauf?"

"This dumb thing just bit my neck!"

"Oh well, it's dead now-"

A second Eater lunged itself on Dauf's thigh. Crawling upwards towards his head, the awakened being couldn't react in time as the Eater ripped a chunk of its shoulder off, causing Dauf to howl in pain. "Riful, do something!"

"Oh, you pitiful goon, you can't do anything right." Frowning slightly, a lock of the girl's hair elongated and stabbed through the Eater's skull, and the blind being plopped on the ground next to its kind. "They shouldn't be nearly a challenge to you." She addressed to an embarrassed Dauf. Looking at Dietrich with an enthusiastic smile, she rested her cheek against a forefinger. "Hm, you're like a bird with its wings clipped, it actually looks kind of sad." Riful's giggle only made Dietrich tenser. "Oh, I know! If you can get those rods out of you before I count to ten, I'll spare your life. If you fail to do that, warrior, I'm afraid Dauf here will finish what he started."

Loud gurgling sounds snapped Riful's gaze from the bound soldier to the two seemingly dead bodies, and before she could blink, a large portion of her upper chest was mauled from her body. _What are these creatures? "_One_." _Slightly curling her lips upwards, Riful's blades sliced through the Eater's stomach as she jumped away from it, and before letting it fall on the ground, the Abyssal One diced it to bits. "Two." Foul smelling blood gushed and fell on the grass along the slaughtered humanoid. "Three."

As Dauf chuckled lowly, Dietrich grunted in pain as she slowly pushed the first rod backwards, its rough exterior painfully sliding against her innards. Slowly but surely, the long beam plopped on the ground. Blood which was blocked by the rod spurted out of her stomach, and Dietrich gritted her teeth, preventing herself from screaming in the newfound pain. _Damn this! Damn all of this!_

"Four." Riful's lower stomach was ripped apart from her body, only for her to regenerate effortlessly. The remaining Eater growled and gurgled as it spat Riful's mass out. Riful's eyes widened in excitement as she raised the remaining Eater high up in the air with two elongated strands of her faux hair, and with a third strand, Riful closed her eyes as she felt the warm wetness that showered her face. The third limb spiked upwards, impaling the suspended humanoid from the groin to its head, and Riful gazed at Dietrich as her spike stuck out from the creature's skull. "Five." A cheerful smile crossed Riful's delicately dirtied lips, and pulling back her sharpened appendages, the skewered Eater thudded heavily on the puddle ground. "Six."

Standing shakily, Dietrich quickly yanked the last rod off her shoulder, spilling the blood and pieces of her flesh along her pull. Dropping the heavy rod on the grass, the petite soldier huffed as sweat rolled down her temples. Squinting her eyes in pain, she fell on her knees, quietly summoning youki to heal the gaping holes on her body.

"You ugly piece of shit!" Dauf roared as his multiple rods maimed and jammed onto the Eater's head, disfiguring it to the point where it was unrecognizable.

"Seven."

"Surely, you aren't trying to steal my captive?"

Riful slowly turned her head to the side, her face looking bored as she gazed at a white being before her. Angelic looking wings adorned Andromeda's back, and against the sun, she glowed.

"Oh? Another visitor? Whatever you are, it's mine for me to take so fly off before I cut your arm and jam it in your guts. You're unwanted here." Riful's eyes closed upwards as she smiled, and the blood on her face crusted and cracked as she did so.

* * *

><p>Miria froze on her tracks as she opened her inn door. Completely caught off guard, she stood quietly as she basked in the sight of Galatea sitting next to the window. Her eyes memorized Galatea's entirety, she watched her up and down. The woman looked fragile and deep in thought as she delicately brushed her long mane. Not continuing until her brush ran through a portion of her locks three times, Galatea's eyes were closed, the sunlight accentuating her skin's glow, making her look angelic. Has she always looked so frail, so easy to accidentally break? The way she slowly brushed her strands, a first seat look at Galatea's petty concerns of her vanity, Miria noticed how each individual strand softly fell to place after the brush touched it. At that time Miria marveled if taking a step forward would end the beautiful sight before her, but the captain's thoughts were interrupted by soft words.<p>

"Don't be so hesitant, my leader. Come over here; let me fix your ruffled clothes." Galatea found her eyes wander at Miria's disheveled appearance, and she smirked at Miria's resistance.

"Who says I want to be overpowered again today?" Feeling a foreign youki run through her veins, Miria felt less tense as Galatea shushed her. Slowly walking towards the taller woman, she stopped her tracks before her, not knowing what Galatea wanted her to do.

"Sit." The taller warrior beckoned Miria on her lap. Long fingers smoothed down the crinkled grooves on Miria's skirt and torso. "Let me see what I can do to this unruly mane of yours. It's been bothering me since the dawn of time."

Feeling the weight of Miria against her lap, Galatea proceeded to brush Miria's spiky locks, and the shorter woman tried her best to not notice Galatea's sharp features. She was truly of a different caliber. Miria noted the other woman's long torso, her long legs, her shapely breasts behind her leathery outfit, her soft lips, her nicely crafted nose, and those eyes. Those eyes that looked past walls, skin and bone and directly to the soul. Miria gazed at Galatea's exposed neck, and it looked so elegant. She looked so graceful.

Mindlessly sliding a finger against Galatea's skin, Miria quietly caressed Galatea's neck before sliding down to the center of her collarbone, rubbing the bones lightly in her discovery. "Your bones jut out, did you know that?" Not knowing where the gentleness of her voice came from, Miria proceeded to slide her finger lower, until it hit the collar of Galatea's leather.

"Hn." Concentrated eyes focused on taming Miria's tresses, and Galatea repeated her brushing until she was satisfied. "Your bone structure is as refined as your hair is wild. In a sense, it matches your soul." Placing the brush on the windowsill and ignoring Miria's surprised look, Galatea gazed at the scenery outside the window. "Teresa and Clare are heading out here. Teresa's youki is much more stable compared to yesterday, and that stubborn girl's lucky she didn't kill her. Her gamble proved to be fruitful. Are we heading out as soon as they arrive?"

"Dgiarze, Deneve and Helen are most likely going to bump into them in the desert. Whenever we all gather, we leave." Warmth slowly crept up against Miria's cheeks as she mentally evaluated their position, but her pride wouldn't let her lose the staring contest she had with the woman underneath her.

"So be it… _Captain_." Tracing lazy circles on Miria's rear, Galatea chuckled lazily as Miria's back tensed.

"You're cruel." Whispering equally as lazy, Miria gently placed her head on the nook of Galatea's shoulder. The sun was tranquilizing. Soothing. The shorter woman slightly shook from Galatea's tender touch against her buttock, and Miria wrapped her arms around the other's neck as her touch tickled. Breathing hotly against Galatea's ears, Miria whispered even quieter. "Don't treat me sweetly like I have a place in that heart of yours."

"I tend to indulge in beautiful things. Can you really blame me?" Snaking her arms underneath the cloth of Miria's garments, Galatea found warmth in Miria's breasts. "What will you do with the other three ghosts once we reach the mainland? Entrapping them for almost a month in a collapsed cave, they'll demand justification for your actions." A smile found itself on the taller woman's lips as she welcomed the heat she was looking for. The sun and Miria were against her skin, it was a nice feeling. It was soothing.

"I did it for their own good. The three are much too inexperienced for me to drag them in here. I'll free them once we set foot. It's not my main concern if they'll forgive me or not. Their lives are much more important, and knowing them they'll stubbornly follow us if I haven't bound them." Nuzzling her head sleepily, Miria muttered her serious words. Galatea's youki caressed and embraced her body, and Miria's lids drooped. Sliding her hands to Miria's back, Galatea rubbed the sleepy woman's spine, grazing and playing with Miria's skin as the two fell preys from the sunlight's calming warmth.

"I was out in the market and I found these." Gently pulling Galatea's invading hands off her, Galatea stared quietly as Miria was determined to wrap the rosary beads around the taller woman's right wrist. She almost looked… cute, with all her seriousness and her smaller body comfortably snug against Galatea's. Looking down at her now decorated wrist, Galatea muttered softly at Miria's almost childish action.

"This is…"

"Whenever you hold onto your sword, the cross will dangle to hit your skin. Maybe it'll remind you of better days if you find yourself in a bad one."

* * *

><p>"Heal up, already. How weak can your kind be, soldier?"<p>

Sitting against a tree branch, Andromeda sleepily gazed at the figure below her. Dietrich shook and trembled from the loss of blood, and she desperately harnessed youki to heal her cuts and regenerate the holes on her stomach and shoulder. "I'm an offensive type, and I'm doing my best." The blonde glared at the ivory being, who lazily leaned against the tree.

"Pathetic things, all of you." The pale being closed her eyes as she healed Dietrich without effort. "Pitiful. It's tempting to obliterate you, but I have better use for you at this moment."

Sighing in relief, the soldier laid her back against a tree across Andromeda. The blonde glared at the murderous being in front of her, and with the strength she could muster, she flung her broadsword, stabbing the tree inches away from Andromeda's head. "Kill me now. I have no intentions of helping you."

"Oh, you will." Plucking an apple from the tree, Andromeda threw the fruit for Dietrich to catch. "I saved your life out there. Where is your code of honor, soldier? Or do you live an empty life without your pride and dignity?"

"You're worse than the Abyssal Ones. You're a fucking demon parading as an angel." Dietrich snarled and at that point she didn't care if her throat was hoarse. She ignored the apple that's fallen on her lap.

"Eat, you stubborn creature." Lifting a finger, Andromeda's voice droned as she forced Dietrich's jaw open. The apple floated in front of the soldier, and not wanting to be under Andromeda's spell any longer, Dietrich bit a rather large mass off the fruit.

The soldier glared helplessly as she chewed on the apple. Her face was dirtied from the day's events, and Dietrich desperately tried to block a certain memory earlier.

"_You want to rip my arm off? I can do better; I'll rip off all your limbs." Ivory orbs gazed at Riful blankly, and with the form of a fist, blood exploded from the crushing of Riful's arms and legs. _

"_You stupid bitch!" Dauf charged towards the white lady, but he received the same bloody fate. His monstrous eyes widened as he watched his arms and legs blow up to bits, and his blood splattered on his face and Riful's. Surprise and horror took over him, and snapping his head towards his mistress, Dauf helplessly shouted curses as his torso and Riful's plopped pathetically on the grass alongside the mushy leftovers of the Eaters which Andromeda easily shredded. "Riful, regenerate now!" _

"_No need for that. You two are lucky to have a nice view in the next second." Andromeda's voice was soft and rhythmic, and opening her palm, she quickly raised her arm up to be aligned with her body. _

_Riful's eye twitched in anger, her brow furrowed from her limbless state. What is that creature? As she watched Dauf desperately trying to resist, the two found themselves catapulted high in the air, the temperature getting colder as they went up and up. The view of the fluffy clouds were beautiful, Riful noted, and a second later, her and Dauf's body were quickly plummeting onto the ground, which were miles and miles away from them. As seconds passed, the landscapes became clearer and clearer, and snapping herself out of her stupor, Dauf's voice invaded her ears once more. "Regenerate now, Riful! Now!" The winds howled and muffled Dauf's helpless scream, but Riful felt heavy, and it was now or never. Peeling her human skin off, the abyssal one's true form emerged, and as the two dropped, hitting clouds along the way, Riful's elongated limbs embraced Dauf, who was now miniscule against her, and her body plummeted with much velocity. Bracing herself for impact, Riful hugged her servant tightly as she collided against the earth like a comet from space. A loud crushing sound was heard as her giant body thudded mightily against soil, and weakly shaking from the collision, Riful uncontrollably reverted back to her human form, new limbs and all. A dust cloud surrounded the two heavily wounded creatures, but there was no reaction from Dauf. Riful's childish, naked body bloodily laid against her servant's gory torso, and grating her teeth right and left, Riful's throat burned from her raw scream._

* * *

><p>"Too slow." Teresa smirked as she leapt from tree to tree. "Come on, Clare. Show me what you're made of." Winking playfully, the wavy blonde's figure shrank smaller and smaller from Clare's vision. Winning a race against Teresa of the Faint Smile was possible. Wasn't it?<p>

_She may be teasing all the time, but I'm glad she's back to her senses. I just hope she doesn't have any more episodes later on. I don't think I could stand it. _Thinking distractedly, Clare's face bumped harshly against Teresa's back, and before she could articulate a word, the taller woman embraced Clare atop the tall trees. Teresa teased as Clare's body jumbled awkwardly from the sudden halt. "Watch where you're going, clumsy one." Losing their balance, Clare laughed slightly from the childishness of their games. The two fell from the high branch, and Clare held onto Teresa tightly as the taller warrior bounced from a lower tree branch. As they landed back onto higher levels, Clare landed a surprise kiss on Teresa's cheek before dashing behind the taller woman.

"Don't let your guard down so easily." Clare treaded past her companion with a genuine smile on her lips. Turning her head around, she saw Teresa return her smile with a mischievous grin on her lips. "When we go home I'll give you back your sword I hid from the world!"


End file.
